Kuroko no Basuke: Middle Years
by NenePasciele
Summary: Everyone knows the Generation of Miracles, the legendary basketball team derived from Teiko-chuu, but not everyone knows of what really happened during their time at said school, not even those who've attended with them. Prequel to the story *possibly entire middle school experience from 1st year meeting to 3rd year nationals* I'll take bits and pieces from the manga flashbacks XD
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Teikochuu

**Hi Hi! So yeah…  
****this is the first time I'm writing for Kuroko no Basuke  
****I hope you all will enjoy this  
****And since I've been reading many others' stories as well,  
****I just want to apologize in advance if ideas seem similar to theirs  
****But imma change it up a bit so that it becomes 'mine'  
****Sound good?**

**Alright but fair warning, I have other stories that I need to attend to  
****and they've been waiting longer than this one  
****so I just wanted to say that this story will sort of be a writer's block go to story  
****hehe sorry =_= (please don't kill me ;P)  
****kk enough jabber, we start!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own kuroko no basuke… thus meaning no claims for Kurokochii and the others T-T (whaaa~ sad face)**

Quick Story Summary:

Everyone knows the Generation of Miracles, the legendary basketball team deriving from the Middle School, Teiko-chuu... but not everyone knows of the trials, tribulations and problems that they've all had to face together. In fact, nobody even knows how they first met, not that they'd want to experience it firsthand. This story is a prequel to the series from when they first meet to when they split up...

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Chapter 1: Welcome to Teiko-chuu

It was early spring and all the students walked through the courtyard towards the school building. Many people were just walking normally as they encountered friends, eagerly waiting to hear which class they'd be in and who'd be in their classes. Meanwhile, others just walked cautiously as it was their first day at a brand new school. Many first years had said goodbye to their parents as they were dropped off then rapidly met up with past grade school friends, chatting about the Opening Ceremony.

"So how do you think this school year will turn out to be?" a girl with long pink hair asked her childhood friend.

"You've been asking me that since I first picked you up from your house." The dark haired boy sighed but gave the girl a smile regardless.

"Well, I'm just so excited~!" The girl grinned sheepishly as she put her two hands to her cheeks and imagined how life as a middle schooler would be like. She imagined meeting new girl friends as well as boy friends then thought of school clubs and meeting her one true love... she ogled at the image of her mysterious first love.

"Satsuki, oy Satsuki!" the boy tried to snap her out of it. "Stay idle like that and I'll leave you." The boy sighed as he continued to walk onwards.

"Dai-chan! Moooo~ wait for me!" She, Momoi Satsuki, called to him as she pouted. (btws it's Mo with a short O, not moo like a cow... hehe) The pair then entered the gates and Satsuki stared at the building with stars in her eyes. _"This is the start of my new life."_ Momoi thought determinedly as she marched on and nearly bumped into a smaller boy in front of her. She had just narrowly dodged him though she didn't really notice him there at all.

"Oi Satsuki, watch where you're going." Her friend, Aomine Daiki, sighed for the umpteenth time that day, though it was still only morning. "And I told you not to call me that anymore..." he said to her as she argued as to why she wasn't allowed to call him whatever she wanted as they walked through the main entrance.

The short boy from before had just stared at the loud pair, arguing as they entered the building. He didn't really mind them much but the girl had nearly knocked his book out of his hand as he was walking and he lost his page. While trying to find it, he was tripped over by another person. However this time, they both were sent towards the ground as the other boy was much, much taller than himself. The boy underneath the taller just grunted as he tried to slip out from the bottom.

"Ano, excuse me..." the boy grunted softly as he tried to get the other's attention.

"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry." The taller boy got up and picked him up right after. "I thought I tripped over a root or something but it turned out to be you. You're awfully small to be in middle school, are you lost? I could point you towards your own school if you need directions." The tall, purple haired boy said as he took out a bag of sweets and started to munch on its contents.

"This is my school." The shorter of the two said. The purpled haired boy just looked at him stunned.

"Wow, then you're a first year. You're a really short kid aren't ya?" he laughed at the poor boy's expense and ruffled his hair a bit.

"And you're too tall." He retorted with his straight, deadpan serious face. The other stopped laughing, not expecting the comment at all but still kept the smile. Usually, people would feel threatened by his height and try to avoid conversations with him but this kid was different.

"You're interesting. I'm Murasakibara Atsushi, class 1-D. What's your name?"

"Kuroko Tetsuya, class 1-A." he said stoically, not changing his expression in the slightest.

"Ja, Kuro-chin, I'll see you around school." The tall boy said as he followed the crowd of people and left the other behind. Kuroko dusted himself off first before looking around trying to find his book. He was then greeted by another person who held up his book to him.

"Are you looking for this?" a red headed boy looked at him with hetero colored eyes. Kuroko nodded and took the book from the other.

"Arigato Gonzaimasu.(thank you very much)" Kuroko bowed slightly to the other.

"It's a good book. Make sure to finish it alright?" With that done, the other left and Kuroko just followed. At the same time, an announcement went on and instructed all first years to head towards the gymnasium right after the first bell rang.

. . . . . . . .

Students were clattering and chatting with each other as the Opening Ceremony had started. Kuroko just stood there, not really paying attention to what was going on. First there were the greetings given by a few teachers and the principal, then it was the student council president who had spoken next. Afterwards, they were instructed on how to behave in school and what expectations were and such. It had run for about an hour or so before everyone was released to go and find their classrooms.

Kuroko found his easily since he had spotted it on his way to the gym and walked in to claim a seat in the back by the window. He sat down and started to search through his book again, trying to remember the place where he had left off. Soon others then started to enter and the room got noisier and noisier as they introduced themselves to one another but no one noticed the quiet, blue haired boy reading in the corner of the room.

"Hurry up, Dai-chan! Class will start soon." A girl exclaimed from outside the classroom, not that it had bothered the reading boy.

"I still can't believe we were put in the same homeroom, what are the odds?" Aomine scratched the back of his head as he was lead inside.

"You're mean..." Momoi just stuck her tongue out at him.

"Very mature, and it's not like we do anything on the first day anyways. And I told you not to..."

"Yeah, yeah, no Dai-chan, got it Aomine-kun." Momoi grinned and then flung herself at the others in the classroom, immediately introducing herself to them. Aomine just looked at the overly excited female as he then separated himself from her and took a seat at the back of the class. _"She's way too excited for this. I have to calm her down later."_ Aomine observed the others in the class as he placed that thought at the back of his mind. He saw many people though they didn't seem as interesting as he'd hoped. He leaned forward on this desk, placing his elbow down and placed his cheek to his palm. A few moments later, the teacher had entered and started the class.

"Hello students, I'm you're teacher Nakamura-sensei." He said as the class repeated back to him, 'Ohayo Nakamura-sensei!' "I'll be your teacher for the year, so I hope we'll all get along great." He then continued by taking the attendance to make sure each of them was in the correct class.

"Amori Taisuke"

"Here"

"Miura Emiko"

"Hai!"

"Momoi Satsuki"

"Hai sensei" Momoi raised her hand energetically.

"Aomine Daiki" Aomine just raised a hand and didn't respond.

"Iwamoto Kenji"

"Yo!"

...(list goes on)

"Kuroko Tetsuya" no response. "Is there a Kuroko Tetsuya present in this classroom?" Still no response.

"Does anyone know who Kuroko Tetsuya is?" Murmurs then started to erupt from the students as they looked at one another, seeing if they could spot a person that they didn't know or who wasn't called out yet. So far, there were only about 6 people left but they had friends who knew their names.

"Maybe he isn't here, sensei." Someone suggested as the sensei nodded his head.

"This isn't a good way to start of Middle School." He tsked as he was about to check the absent box when...

"Ano..." the blue haired boy greeted from in front of the teacher, at his desk. "I'm Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Whaaa!" The teacher exclaimed as he stared at the boy who had appeared out of thin air. Everyone else in the room was surprised by his sudden existence as well.

"When did he get here?" Someone whispered.

"More importantly, how did he get there?" Another said. This boy had then peaked Aomine's interest as he was also caught off guard by this kid.

"J-ja, Kuroko-kun... would you mind telling me why you were late for this class? Did you attend this morning's ceremony? Where were you up until now?" he questioned the quiet boy.

"I was here the entire time." Kuroko said simply.

"Ha?" the entire class exclaimed.

"That's impossible, we didn't see you at all." One boy said as he stood from his seat.

"How'd you get to sensei's desk?" a girl asked him this time.

"I walked." Kuroko said with his simple phrases as they all sweatdropped at its simplicity.

"Man, that guy has no presence whatsoever."

"Where were you sitting, Kuroko-kun?" Nakamura-sensei asked him. Kuroko then pointed to the back of the class where his things were currently sitting. "A-ah, I see. Then I'm sorry Kuroko-kun, you may take your seat but next time, please speak up when I call your name okay?" the sensei was very understanding about it.

"Hai, I understand." Kuroko then turned to take his seat as their teacher continued with the class list. Aomine just watched the boy as he took his seat to the left of him. _"He was beside me the whole time and I didn't see him. Wait, how long had he been sitting there for?" _The thought shocked him as he couldn't remember seeing him once, even when he had first sat down. He noticed the kid standing behind the desk who had moved when he sat down and the girl who was walking around him before taking her spot in front of him but he didn't see Kuroko Tetsuya move at all; not even when Momoi sat in front of said person. He saw Momoi perfectly clear despite trying to box her out of his mind when she took her spot, so why hadn't he seen him, why? To be honest, it scared him a little.

Suddenly, Momoi then shifted around and turned towards Kuroko. "Ne, Kuroko-kun, I'm sorry for not seeing you earlier." Momoi apologized.

"There's no need for apologies... ano." Kuroko paused as he didn't know her name. Momoi smiled and replied. "Momoi Satsuki, nice to meet you."

"Momoi-san." Kuroko repeated.

"You can call me Satsuki." She offered.

"No, it's alright." He said bluntly as he then continued to read his book but Momoi wasn't going to let him off the hook that easily.

"Hey, so do you have a certain club you want to join?" She asked in her bubbly manner. Aomine just facepalmed. She couldn't see that he wanted to be left alone.

"Huh?" Kuroko looked at her puzzled as he was too absorbed in his novel.

"Why don't you join the basketball club with us? It'll be fun!" Momoi said to him.

"Us?" Kuroko questioned.

"Me and Da... er Aomine-kun." She motioned towards his right. Aomine then quickly turned away as to avoid contact. Kuroko then turned back and nodded much to Aomine's surprise. _"Why would he join a sports club? He doesn't seem like the type to enjoy something like that, or at least, he doesn't look like he's ever played anything in his life."_ Aomine was taken aback by Momoi's sudden request and the boy's quick response.

Just then, the teacher announced that the rest of the period be free time to get to know one another. Momoi then took this as an opportunity to say something more to the boy.

"I was going to go after school today. They put posters around for tryouts to be tomorrow but I want to go ahead and sign up for the spot of manager."

"Oi, Satsuki." Aomine suddenly barked at the girl with eyes slightly filled with worry and annoyance.

"What is it, Aomine-kun?" she looked at him.

"What are you doing, inviting people to a club you aren't even on yet? And besides, he doesn't even look like he can play plus he's too small." Aomine said. Momoi was about to say something back but Kuroko beat her to it.

"Size doesn't matter in basketball, what matters is your love for the game." Kuroko said to him. The pair just gawked at him as though he just spouted out words of wisdom or the meaning of life.

"So you do play." Aomine said to him, being the first to snap out of his train of thought.

"No I don't." Aomine then fell over from his desk. _"So upfront. This guy..."_

"However, I do know how to play." Aomine just laughed at this guy. He found him intriguing.

"Then show up tomorrow after school and we'll see just how much you love basketball." Aomine challenged.

**Yay, first chapter done!  
****And don't worry, I didn't forget about Midorimacchi  
****Just in case you were wondering  
****But they'll all be showing up in the next chapter  
****Well, except Kise…  
****He probably won't be around for a while**

**Hope you enjoyed it!  
****Owari desu~**

. . . . . . . . . . .

Small Treat for You Readers... ^~^  
-Omake-

"Hahahahaha!" Aomine laughed as he heard Kuroko's short, abrupt answers. "Then show up tomorrow after school and we'll see just how much you love basketball." Aomine challenged out loud, surprising some of his classmates.

"Who is Aomine-kun talking to?"

"I think he's talking to Momoi-san, isn't he?"

"No, he wouldn't challenge her like that, he isn't that stupid."

"Wait, isn't he talking to Kuroko?" Someone then noticed the boy.

"Yeah, you're right." Some said with realization.

"He does sit right there, between them."

***shock/gloom***

"We forgot he was there..."

Nakamura-sensei even hid his face behind his lesson plan. "I'm the teacher and even I forgot he was sitting in the classroom." Nakamura hid his realization as well, along with the students.


	2. Chapter 2: Who Do You Think You Are

**Hey I'm back  
****Yeah, I'm still in a slump for my other stories  
****but I just can't resist writing for this  
****So here's the first meeting of the Generation of Miracles  
****Hope you're enjoying it!**

**And also, Minna-san, arigato gonzaimasu!  
****I really appreciate all of your wonderful reviews, your favoriting and followings too!  
****Alright, we start!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke… probably not even the storyline; ****huh, that kinda sad… hehe  
**

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Chapter 2: Who Do You Think You Are

Kuroko had gotten up and went to school that morning. He left the house quietly and locked up since he was the only one there during that time. Walking to school, he wondered if it would be alright for him to join the basketball club like Momoi had said to. Sure he loved basketball but he wasn't sure if it would be enough since that wasn't the only thing you needed in order to succeed. He continued walking towards the school grounds and on the way, he saw a familiar face who came from around the corner in front of him. He turned towards him and waved, revealing a smile that seemed to have a hidden meaning to it, as if it were hiding what he was actually thinking, though it seemed like it was a friendly hello sort of smile on top of that.

Kuroko didn't show any change in expression but underneath, he was a bit surprised by the other. After all, this person had noticed him two days in a row after his first glance. The blue haired boy walked towards the other who seemed to be waiting for him and when he caught up, the two walked onwards together. "So how was your book? You finish it?" The red headed boy asked.

"Hai, it was good." Kuroko responded. The other looked satisfied. Kuroko looked at the other boy and instantly noticed his eyes. It was the same yesterday as his eyes were the first things he noticed after his hair, he did acknowledge that his eyes were heterochromatic but it wasn't really as noticeable since one was just a tad more colored red than the other. Either way, he'd still consider it to be heterochromatic despite the minor change.

"I believe I haven't introduced myself yesterday." The boy pulled Kuroko out of his thought. "That was definitely rude of me but I knew that I would meet you again, since I'm never wrong." The boy said in a cocky tone. Kuroko just looked and listened, not wanting to comment on his words. "I'm Akashi Seijuro, class 1-D."

"Kuroko Tetsuya, class 1-A." Kuroko responded.

"So, Tetsuya," Akashi started, using Kuroko's first name right off the bat, "today classes are suspended so that we can take a look at the new clubs. Would you like to join one with me?" Akashi offered.

"Maybe, but I already promised someone else that I would join with them." Kuroko said. Akashi just raised an eyebrow at him. No one had defied him before, even if he was just giving an offering towards the boy.

"Is that so, well, I'll still be looking forward to you seeing the club at least once before you make your final decision." Akashi said. "You never know, you may change your mind." The red haired teen wasn't really sure as to why he pushed on the subject but he didn't ponder on it any longer as he saw Kuroko suddenly dodge a little kid who nearly ran straight into him along with his mother, who was not too far behind. Akashi just watched as Kuroko didn't say a word to the two people who nearly knocked him over.

"I'm sorry." The woman said to the boys as she then took off to get her child back. Kuroko just stared blankly but Akashi could tell that the woman had directed her apology towards him and not his friend, whom she had almost bowled over not so long ago. He took a mental note as to why this was but as they continued to walk, he had started to notice things, similar to the event, happen repeatedly; bicycles nearly running him over, water nearly being dumped on him from the side house residents, all sorts of things. Even a bird came crashing towards them, colliding with the poor boy's head.

Kuroko just sat up and rubbed his forehead while the bird shook itself from dizziness and took to the sky once again, not knowing what had happened. People around them had seen the scene but were all gasping about why the bird had suddenly fell backwards and glad that it didn't hit the unsuspecting red head. Akashi just looked dumbfounded and was more surprised at how Kuroko just ignored it all and continued his walk as though it was all normal for him.

Akashi added to his mental note as he reached some sort of conclusion. Meanwhile, Kuroko wasn't very sure why the sudden silence between them when the other had decided to start walking with him but he didn't mind and didn't want to push a conversation since the other seemed to be deep in thought. "Akashi-kun, we're here." Kuroko said to the other, deciding to break the silence instead; opposite of his initial thought.

"Ah, it seems we are." Akashi snapped out of his thoughts. "It was an enjoyable walk and I expect to see you later at the club tables." Akashi waved his goodbye and left the invisible boy. Kuroko nodded in response and pondered on what he thought of the other. He was certainly kind but he seemed to always feel the need to be right, as it seemed with his short encounter. He also seemed to think to himself a lot as he had one hand on this chin and the other by his elbow, with his hand in a loose fist and his thumb flicking up and down as though he were holding a pen. _"I guess that's just a habit of his."_ Kuroko shrugged and continued to his classroom.

He walked in silently, not drawing attention to himself, and went over to his seat as he slipped past Aomine and Momoi, who were talking amongst themselves. He then took his seat behind the pink haired girl. "Ne, did you know that all the clubs are setting up booths so that we can all take a look." Momoi said with excitement. "It's going to be so much fun!"

"Satsuki, you have to calm down. With that attitude, you'll start to scare people." Aomine said as his eye started to twitch a bit.

"Well, I only have my eyes set on the basketball team. With over 100 players and their regulars getting to the winter season's semi-finals last year, I think it's a pretty good start. Plus the coach is very hard working and seems encouraging enough." Momoi stated.

"How do you know all of that?" Aomine asked.

"I did a little digging around." Momoi smiled, which sort of creeped Aomine out a bit. "As the team manager, I have to be able to do this much right?"

"Sure, but I'm excited about meeting the other players, I bet there'll be strong people in this school."

"Is that all you care about?" Momoi questioned him skeptically.

"Hey, without strong players, the game isn't as fun is it? And it's more fun when you can't win." Aomine said with a big grin and laughed. (A/N: yeah, I made Aomine say it before Kagami, deal with it) Momoi just sighed and smiled at him. Kuroko didn't mean to listen in but he liked Aomine's attitude towards the sport. He might just drop by after all.

"So do you think Kuroko will actually show up?" Aomine started off a new topic as he glanced at the desk of the invisible boy.

"Maybe, he seemed to be really into the sport." Momoi said as she leaned on his desk.

"Ano..." a voice had then reached Momoi's ear as she turned towards it. She took a look and caught sight of Kuroko with a distressed look on his face. She screamed as she backed away from him. She then saw that she was on a sheet of paper that was on the desk and saw that he picked it up and put it in his bag. _"Oh, I guess I was on his paper." _Momoi thought as she put a hand to her forehead as she calmed down from the surprise.

"What?" Aomine stared at the blue haired wonder, wide eyed. _"I thought that since I saw and started talking to him yesterday, I'd be able to notice him today! Boy was I wrong!" _

"How long were you there for?" Aomine asked the other.

"5 minutes." Kuroko said nonchalantly.

"5 min... whaa?"

"Don't worry, I didn't listen to your conversation. That would be rude of me." Kuroko said as he placed his bag on the ground.

"N-no don't worry about it." Aomine sighed from his excitement and just placed his head on his desk. The teacher then walked in and told them all about the classes' suspension due to the school's rule for mandatory participation in an extracurricular activity. He explained that club heads have created booths that are located outside in the courtyard and suggests that they all take a look at everything before deciding on a single club. With that said, everyone was dismissed and they all left, leaving the three in the corner alone.

"Come on you two, the club table will be full of people if we don't get going now." Momoi dragged Aomine then looked at Kuroko and encouraged him to come along as well. Kuroko sighed inwardly and got up from his seat.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Momoi ran outside and found the table in a synch since she did help set up earlier. Aomine and Kuroko slowly walked after her as they remained silent the entire way. "Hello, taichou! I brought you two new members!" Momoi said as she motioned towards Aomine and Kuroko.

"Hello, Momoi-chan had told me much about you, Aomine-kun." The captain, Kaibara Tomoki, shook hands with him and handed him an application sheet to fill out.

"You know, we had a lot of people come in today." The person at the table behind Kaibara said.

"Well that's good news, ne Aomine-kun?" Aomine just nodded and smiled a bit.

"Hopefully they're strong." He said partially to himself.

Kaibara couldn't help but smile at his kouhai (meaning underclassman). "Don't worry, there are plenty of people for you to challenge. So, who's the other person?" He turned back to Momoi.

"Oh that's Kuroko Tetsuya-kun. He says that he hasn't played much but he loves basketball." Momoi explained to him.

"No, I meant who as in, where is he?" Kaibara-taichou asked as he looked around.

"Well, he's kinda hard to see but he's right here, ne Aomine-kun?" Momoi looked at her childhood friend.

"Yeah..." Aomine looked down beside him but found himself to be standing alone. He whipped around and tried to see if the small boy was somewhere around him but to no avail. "... he disappeared." Aomine said in annoyance.

"What? Weren't you watching him?" Momoi exclaimed, furious that he lost him.

"What is he, a puppy? If he wants to leave, let him!" Aomine yelled back.

"Umm... did you say Kuroko Tetsuya?" another boy, a regular named Shiba Itsuki, asked the yelling first years.

"Huh? Ah, hai." Momoi said to her sempai, regaining her composure.

"Well, he left an application form and note here on the table." He picked it up and showed it to them. Momoi took it and she read it alongside Aomine.

"Domo, my name is Kuroko Tetsuya and I would like to request my participation in this club. Arigato Gonzaimasu." Momoi read aloud. "PS, I was here the entire time."

"What is that, his catchphrase?" Aomine raised an eyebrow at the notice.

"Well, if he shows up to the regular tryouts after school then he'll be part of the team but no guarantee that he'll be a regular. Maybe second string at best." The third regular placed an arm around Momoi.

"We'll tell him when we see him, thanks." Aomine said to the regular, Hibiki Makoto, while he pried his arm off of Momoi. He then proceeded to take her away from the table as she waved goodbye to the seniors.

"Hmmm, I wonder where Kuroko-kun ran off to." Momoi wondered as she stopped Aomine and made him release her hand. She looked around cautiously trying to find the hidden boy.

"We can't really pinpoint a place since we only met him yesterday. Plus it's already hard to see him as it is, we can't even find him when he's standing right beside us. What makes you think we'll see him when we squint our eyes real hard and then... suddenly find... him." Aomine slowed down his words while he did exactly as he said and found said boy standing beside another with red hair.

"Wow, that worked." Aomine said stunned.

"Well don't just stand there, lead the way! I can't see him at all." Momoi shoved him off in the direction that he was staring at. Eventually, as they got closer, Momoi spotted the boy as well and called out to him. "Kuroko-kun! I was looking for you. You really surprised us when you suddenly disappeared." The pair turned around and faced them.

"Oh, you must be the people that Tetsuya had mentioned early this morning. So you joined a club, right Tetsuya?" Akashi asked him.

"Hai. I left a note saying that I was going to participate in the basketball club." Akashi grinned up when he heard that.

"Well, it seems that in the end, we did join the same club together then. I too have joined the team and I plan to make it better than ever this year."

"That doesn't seem very likely; there are some cocky third years as regulars." Aomine barged into the conversation.

"No worries, I'm onto that already. I just have to see who I have that I can work well with and it'll all be fine." Akashi grinned widely again and walked off. "I expect you two to be there."

"That sounded like an order." Aomine raised an eyebrow at the redheaded boy.

"That's how Akashi-kun is. He seems to like to be in charge." Kuroko said. "Although, I only really met him today."

"I'll show him who's in charge when I see him later." Aomine stormed off and went towards the outdoor basketball court.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

It was after school and the club fair was over. Many boys had met up in the gymnasium to see if they could qualify for the team. Kuroko had shown up, not that anyone noticed and they were all told to line up. "Hello everyone," The captain started off the club. "I would just like to welcome you and thank you all for joining the basketball club and I hope that you all will strive to be the best you can be. Today, our coach is out so I'll be leading this and the other regulars here will be judges." Then just like the classroom, they had gone through the list of applicants and it was a long list and nearly every person had shown up. Eventually, they'd made it to Aomine, then Akashi but when they got to his name, it was school all over again.

"Kuroko Tetsuya! Are you here?" Kaibara-taichou asked out loud. "Kuroko Tetsuya?"

"Did you see him?" Hibiki asked Shiba who shook his head.

"He just left a note saying that he wanted to register and left. None of us got a chance to see him." Shiba explained.

"Well, that's not very nice. If you wanna register for something, you should do it properly." Another person said.

"Yagami-kun, he did say that he was there, we just didn't see him. Plus Momoi-san said that he's hard to notice." Shiba explained. However, Yagami Kaito wasn't convinced. He lived by morals and rules and he expected everyone to know and follow them. He didn't care if he was there but if he was late to tryouts then that was his own fault.

"I guess Kuroko Tetsuya isn't here." The captain was about to mark it when Momoi stopped him.

"No, I'm sure he's here sempai, you just have to look hard enough." Momoi assured him as she then started to look around too. "Kuroko-kun, where are you?"

"I'm here." Kuroko appeared in front of the girl.

"AHHhhhhh!" Momoi shrieked and fell backwards, however, she was quicker in calming herself down. "See?" the pink haired manager look up at the captain.

"A-ah." Kaibara glanced at the boy who and suddenly appeared before him and stood in awe at the tiny first year. "Why didn't you speak up, Kuroko-kun?" He asked him. (A/N: yeah, I know I wrote this but is this really everything that everybody says when they encounter Kuroko? Lol)

"I tried but you didn't notice."

"_Wow, they weren't kidding with they said he has no presence..."_ the team just looked at the first year. "But he seems kinda weak doesn't he?" Hibiki looked a bit skeptical about this kid. The rest of the first and second years all started to talk amongst themselves about the small kid as well but they were all silenced by the captain.

"Enough!" He exclaimed, silencing them and everyone stopped talking in an instant. "Well, arigato ne, Kuroko-kun." Kuroko bowed slightly as he returned to the first year line. Akashi watched the boy and he smiled.

With the attendance done, the captain then had the idea to test the power of the first years, so he brought up the idea to start playing mini games with each other. However, with so many students joining at once, he only picked 15 of them, making three teams along with the regulars who've decided to play as well, in order to test (ahem, torture) the first years. The first team was made up of 5 nameless first years (sorry nameless first years ;p), the second had Akashi, Murasakibara and 3 other first years, and finally, the third was Aomine, Kuroko, Midorima, and 2 others.

They had commenced the games and first up was Akashi's team against the second/third year regulars. Akashi looked at the regulars of Teiko and just sighed as he lost his motivation to play them. He decided to sit this one out for a while and let the team go on playing without him. Murasakibara was wondering what was up with all the shorties that were present in the school but he shrugged it off. He stood up to his sempai and loomed over them as they all just stared in awe. Akashi seemed pleased with him as he deemed this game theirs and felt that he had no need to play at all.

"Atsushi..." He called out to the tall boy who was getting ready for the jump ball.

"Hah? Oh Aka-chin, what is it?" Akashi just grinned and told the taller one to play only to their enemies' limits against them. Murasakibara wasn't sure what the smaller redhead meant or why he decided to listen to him either but he obliged reluctantly. He wanted to play he way always did (which would be to obliterate the other team) but thought that it might now turn out to actually be more fun since he was already good at the sport, not saying that he liked it though. The other first years just exchanged glances but decided to try and participate in this game as well.

"This guy thinks he can beat us Taichou!" Hibiki exclaimed as he eyed Akashi. "And he's being all cocky about it by not playing."

"That's against the rules." Yagami said casually as he eyed a first year who just squeaked in response.

"Maa, if he doesn't want to play then don't let him. They wouldn't be able to stop us even if they tried together anyways." The fifth regular, Yoshida Daichi, commented.

"Yoshida, do you not see that giant in front of Kaibara-taichou?" Shiba said with a hint of annoyance in his voice. _"Is he even a first year? Can he even be considered as a middle schooler?" _Shiba thought to himself as he braced himself for this game, going into game mode unlike the others.

"Well, let's just get this game started." A second year was chosen to ref this game and the jump ball had commenced. Akashi just stood by and observed the game as it played out. As expected, Murasakibara had gotten the ball and had passed it to an unsuspecting first year at full force (here, how bout this, fy#1 for the first year player... hehe). The ball had pushed the kid off his feet and was forced to push the ball back into the hands of the tall player. Murasakibara looked at the other players on the court as they were all marked by other members while he was double teamed due to Akashi not posing as a threat. _"That Aka-chin, who does he think he is? He was chosen to play, he should play."_ He gave him a quick look of resentment before charging into enemy territory. He passed all the players and instantly made a basket. He quickly took advantage in the game as they continued to play.

The captain passed to Shiba who then rushed towards the half court and immediately passed it to Hibiki who tried for a basket from the three point line. With the fy#2, who was guarding him, being so much shorter than himself, he thought that he would have an easy shot. When he jumped to take the shot, Yagami yelled at him to stop but it was too late as he was already midair. Not wanting to be charged for travelling, he still went for the shot. However, it was stopped in an instant by Murasakibara who had covered the entire key.

"Whaa-" Hibiki landed and was awe stricken. He couldn't believe the first year had blocked the shot so easily. _"How are we supposed to defend against him?"_ He felt disheartened for the first time ever in a basketball game. Murasakibara, full of himself in confidence, had then let his guard down and the ball was easily taken by Kaibara. Kaibara had taken the ball, landed and then spun around Murasakibara before taking the dunk. The regulars then felt as though their hope was rekindled.

"Ho, they're pretty good." Akashi said to himself. On the sideline, Kuroko just watched him.

"Akashi-kun, wouldn't it be better if you played?" Kuroko said to him.

"Now, now Tetsuya, we wouldn't want to spoil their fun now would we? Besides, I've decided that we're going to win this match." He announced.

"But there's no way you can beat the regulars. They're not called the regulars of Teiko for nothing." One of the first years said.

"Yeah, what makes you so special that you can just say that you'll beat them?" another said. Akashi just glared at them with his eyes wide, scaring them.

"You dare question my ability? I will show you that my power is absolute and that winning is nothing to be concerned about." Akashi said harshly, making them and a few second years back away cautiously. Kuroko just looked at the boy and just remained sitting. _"What kind of person did you befriend, Kuroko?"_ Aomine just shook his head and continued to pay attention to the game.

The match had restarted with only 10 minutes left as this game was only 15 minutes long, due to it being a mini game. The score, 2 all. Fy#1 had passed the ball to fy#2 and they both started to dribble down the court before passing it on to Murasakibara who then got triple teamed. Murasakibara didn't like this situation but with the other first years lacking experience and Akashi not participating, Murasakibara didn't know what to do. He couldn't just charge them, that would be pushing over his sempais' limits and that would be disobeying Akashi's order and wouldn't make this as entertaining. That was until the third first year had asked for the ball and Murasakibara had no choice but to pass it on to him. The first year grabbed the ball and went straight for the net when he was suddenly blocked by the taichou himself.

"I'm sorry but it doesn't matter if you're first years, you guys getting a point on us was a major blow and I'm not about to let it happen again." He said as he went into complete defense mode. Murasakibara had a 'hard time' moving around and the other first years were completely useless so he decided to make a move himself. When he found himself to be acceptably close to the net, he then executed his ability. He charged and took a small leap while dribbling the ball then landed, spun around the Taichou and managing to take a dunk. The taichou just stepped backwards as he lost his balance and just stared at the first year who had just executed his technique that he just displayed against Murasakibara.

"Just because we're first years doesn't mean that we can't play like you." The boy said as he ran back to play defense. Akashi, from afar, took a glance at the boy who had just imitated the captain's move right then and deemed him worthy of playing. Yagami took the ball this time and went into the key to get a score back but he faked to the side and passed to Shiba who maneuvered around fy#1 and passed to Kaibara who then tried to execute his move again around Murasakibara but felt something to be off and immediately lost the tempo. He then lost control of the ball, allowing fy#2 to somehow steal and pass to the other first year.

With Murasakibara still on double team this time around, he couldn't let this ball go and stopped at the half court line, looking at his buchou in the face. "How'd you do that move just now?" Kaibara seemed to be losing it.

"I didn't just do it..." the boy said as he then rounded him again and took a three pointer shot. "... I stole it." Everyone just stared at the ball gliding through the air towards the basket as they awaited the fate that it held. To the second and third year regulars, it either meant them being able to catch up or this game being over for them. With faded breath, they watched as the ball had swished into the basket.

"Hey, who do you think you are, kid?" This time, it was Yoshida's turn to get upset. "Don't think that just because you made a three pointer that you can get all big headed." He said to him straight with a very unattractive expression on his face. Momoi couldn't stand watching the regulars, their sempai, act this way and just didn't know what to think right now. She understood that they were upset but the fact that they were acting like spoiled children didn't make up for that.

"Heh," the kid looked at him with a smirk on his face. "I'm not getting a big head _sempai_, I'm just being happy since I made a shot like that. Is there anything wrong with that? By the by, the name's Haizaki Shogo, not kid, remember that." He then walked off to go on the defensive.

**Phew, that was a long chapter  
****Warning, no guarantee that they'll all be this long  
****Hehe, sorry again  
****I was bored and with summer vacation, I got nothing to do  
****I keep re-watching and re-reading shows and manga  
****Oh well, plus I made Haizaki uncover his ability already as well as Murasakibara  
****Well, I hope you enjoyed**

**Oh yeah, and if you were counting, the score's 2-5 first years leading  
****Owari desu~**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Okay, it's that time again 3  
-Omake #1-

Kuroko had asked Momoi to get off of the piece of paper in the classroom as she leaned on his desk. She wondered what was written on it, though she didn't want to pry into the other's affairs. Therefore, she let it go. But what she didn't know was that it was something that he had planned for just in case and had written it while she and Aomine were having their conversation a few moments before.

***Skip to the Sign Up table***

After he and Aomine arrived to the table where Momoi had led them to, Kuroko then tried to get the person managing the table's attention as Aomine and Momoi were speaking with the Taichou, though he didn't succeed in the slightest. Kuroko looked distressed at the person but he still didn't see him. The invisible boy sighed and took out the sheet of paper from his bag and placed it on the table, beside the one who appeared to be a regular on the team due to his jacket.

"_I'll just leave this here." _Kuroko thought to himself as he packed up and walked away. _"Oh, Akashi-kun said that he expected to see me here. I shouldn't ignore his request."_ Kuroko decided and continued to walk away, looking for Akashi.

***Meanwhile***

"... he disappeared." Aomine announced as Momoi glared at him.

"What? You weren't watching him?" Momoi exclaimed.

"What is he, a puppy?..." Their arguing continued.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake#2a-

Haizaki looked at the Taichou of the Teiko-chuu basketball team and attempted to do his move as he spoke. "I didn't just do it..." He then rounded the captain. "... I st..." Haizaki suddenly tripped over the captain's foot and lost the ball.

Everyone just stared at him with a long ***dot... dot... dot*** (facial expression: -.-' )

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake#2b-

Haizaki looked at the Taichou of the Teiko-chuu basketball team and attempted to do his move as he spoke. "I didn't just do it..." He then rounded the captain. "... I stole it." He proclaimed as he took a three pointer shot. Everyone just stared at the ball as it glided through the air towards the basket, awaiting the fate that it...

***ball bounces off the backboard, then the rim, then towards the ground...***

***bounce, bounce, bounce***

"Yay!" One of the regulars proclaimed awkwardly, with hardly any enthusiasm; his voice being dull with a bored tone. (facial expression: -.-'/ Haizaki: o_o )


	3. Chapter 3: Winners Gain, Losers Vain

**Hi Hi! Welcome back!  
****So no new announcements today…  
****But did you read the newest manga chapters?  
****Wee, exciting and a great match I guess  
Pretty serious chapter today...****  
****Oh well, let's start!**

**Disclaimer: No rights available here, not the owner of anything**

* * *

Chapter 3: Winners Gain, Losers Vain

The game continued between the regulars and the first years and eventually, the gap grew wider and wider as the regulars lost their tempo and their patience. The game ended up being 21 – 8, with the first years win. Everyone in the gym just stared in awe at the score board as though their eyes were lying to them. They couldn't believe that the first years had won, the first years (fy#1 and #2) couldn't believe they won, though they knew that they didn't do much to contribute to the victory.

"It's... an upset?" Someone on the bench said with glazed eyes.

"An upset?" Akashi stood up and looked at the first and second string. "Don't make me laugh, this was a pre-set victory for my team." Everyone didn't dare say anything to the boy as everyone looked at the disheartened regulars.

"I... I'm sure that they weren't trying." A third year insisted.

"Don't be stupid, they're sweating like dogs." Another said.

"Won't you guys just shut up, they'll hear you." A third silenced them.

"Get up." Kaibara said to his team as they all just raised their heads towards him. "We should show pride in this loss and accept defeat." He said just like a good captain should.

"But Taishou, they weren't playing by the..." Yagami was about to protest on Akashi's involvement or lack thereof but the glance that he received from the captain made him turn away with regret. The regulars then stood up and lined up with the first year team.

"It's our loss." Kaibara put on a smile as he faced them. The first year pair couldn't help but feel a bit bad for defeating their sempai this badly but it wasn't their doing that had caused this. "Good job in this game." He said as they all took it to be dismissed from the court and allow the second game to commence. Most of the third years glared at Akashi but he took no notice to it as he focused on the court. The two first year teams lined up and bowed before starting the game and getting into position. The team had decided to let Aomine take the jump ball while the others just stood back.

People on the sidelines observed the two teams as they prepared themselves for the start of the match. This time around, both teams seemed pretty normal and wondered if this would be worth watching at all. Many second and third years were chatting about whether it was a good idea to waste time like this but still simply watched the match. Murasakibara looked onto the court and noticed a small, blue haired boy and smiled when he remembered who it was.

"Ahh~ that little kid... I forgot he went to our school." Murasakibara said with a sigh as he took out a snack from his bag. Momoi just looked at the taller boy who was still taller than her even when he sat on the bench.

"You mean Kuroko-kun?" She askd him.

"Yeah, that was him." He said and took another piece from his bag and munched on it.

"I hope he'll be alright." She said with worry. She knew that he knew how to play, however, there was something odd about the small boy. It was like there was a whole other side to him that they didn't really know or have seen. She wondered if it had something to do with the way he played basketball and thought that it may have a great impact on the game. The pink haired girl just shrugged it off and decied that the only way that was going to find out was to watch the game, and she did just that while waiting for Aomine to get started with the jump ball.

Aomine was getting pumped for this game since it was his first at Teiko. He didn't mind the side comments that the audience said out of boredom and let them slip out of his mind as he focused on his opponent across from him. "Let's have a good game." Aomine smiled at his contender who looked at him a bit taken aback but then nodded and returned his words. They both waited in anticipation as the ball was then thrown into the air. They both jumped eagerly in order to snag the ball for their respective teams but Aomine turned out to have won and his team had taken control of the ball.

The dark skinned boy had just passed it on to a first year with green hair. "Shoot it dude!" Aomine said as he blocked off a defender to keep from blocking him. The green haired boy looked down at the ball, then at the basket and tried for a shot. He widened his eyes as the ball left his fingertips and watched as the ball hit the rim then just barely bounced in.

"Alright! That was an awesome shot! What's your name again?" Aomine ran up to the other and asked him.

"Midorima Shintaro." Aomine smiled at the straight faced other and just patted his shoulder. "You know, if you practice more, you'll make a perfect shot one day." Aomine said and ran back to their defense. Midorima just hid behind the glare of his eye glasses as he thought of the other's words. _"I only thought of basketball as a mandatory club activity. But I guess there are guys that take this seriously."_ He thought before joining his team on the other side of the half court line.

The team looked around for openings as they passed the ball around, trying to get it near the goal. Aomine guarded one while the others each took their own respective check. The one with the ball however appeared to be free and decided to try and drive the ball in for a layup. Checking around to make sure he was absolutely clear, he took the ball and charged forward but he was suddenly hit and the whistle blew for a foul and declared it to be the other team's ball as the ball bounced out of bounds.

"What was that?" The guy shook his head and looked up to see Kuroko across from in the same position. "Oh, was that you that hit me or... that I hit, I guess? Either way, I'm sorry." The first year stood up and offered Kuroko a hand.

"Arigato." Kuroko said as everyone sweatdropped.

"Man, that kid's invisible."

"Yeah, was he even in the game at all?"

"How long has it been?"

"About 3 minutes into the game." Akashi just stared indifferently and watched the game continue on while the others chatted to their hearts content about the boy in question. Momoi facepalmed inwardly as she saw what had happened. _"Yeah, he made an impact in the game alright."_ They went on from then as Aomine passed the ball to his teammate and they continued to score more points. And throughout the game, Kuroko fumbled the ball, got passed a lot and didn't make a single basket.

"_Momoi might've been mistaken about this kid."_ Aomine thought as he covered for the boy's mistakes and kept his team ahead by two baskets. The game ended with a 10 – 14 and the regulars all then got up and told them that they'll get to see the coach the next day at practice after school and with that, they were dismissed.

"Man, these kids are harsh this year." Hibiki scratched the back of his head as he glared at the backs of the new recruits.

"Yes but they'll be the future for Teiko's basketball team and the key to victory." Another voice said.

"So coach, what do you think?" Kaibara asked the man who walked into the gym.

"It seems to me that instead of knocking the first years, they knocked some into you." The coach replied calmly but they could feel the malice that his words had meant. He crossed his arms and looked at each of them individually before sighing to himself. "However, they are still first years so there's still room for improvement. After all, you know what this school's motto is." They all nodded and got the silent hint to recite it out loud.

"The winners gain, the losers vain! Don't maintain, improve through pain!" They exclaimed as the coach nodded in approval.

"That is the school motto; that is the rule I live by. If you are unable to keep up with the winners, then you will be thrown out from the high position that I put you in. Make sure to tell this to the younger years and make sure you never forget this." The coach said sternly as he once again eyed them individually. "Dismissed!" His exclamation echoed throughout the gym as they exited and headed to the change rooms. Once the regulars were all gone, he then started to walk around the gym floor and glanced up at the hoops. "Interesting first years..." He said before taking his leave.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The next day had come and gone as the boys from the basketball club thought about the game that had happened yesterday. Meeting once again in the gym, all the first years were split into the first string, second string and finally a third string. Once they found out which string they were part of, they all lined up and waited for the captain's word to start practice. The regulars entered and looked at each other as they remembered the words that their coach had told them the day before and turned towards the large group of people.

"As you all now know, we have sorted you all out into first through third string. However, today, you must learn this team's motto for games and practices. Memorize this and keep this with you no matter what you do, disobey this and you will receive punishment." Kaibara announced as the regulars stated the motto once again.

"_The Winners Gain, the Losers Vain! Don't Maintain, Improve through Pain!" _They exclaimed as everyone was shocked by the intimidating words. No one could say a word and there was an awkward silence that filled the gym. The only person that moved was none other than Akashi.

"Those are some nice words there. I agree completely with this however, due to this, I believe you are all unfit to lead the team to victory this season." He said boldly which shocked everyone even more, hearing them murmuring in the background. "In fact, I believe your time as a regular as of now is over."

"You wanna challenge us brat?" Hibiki spat at the boy.

"Not right now." Akashi waved him off and smirked at him, making him even angrier.

"Then what was the point of bringing this up, Akashi-kun?" Kaibara-taichou had to hold Hibiki back in order to prevent him from giving the other exactly what was coming to him.

"I've decided to let you _sempai_ have your fun in your _last_ year of victory and allow you to _start off_ the year. That way, you may take with you the pride of _assisting_ the number one, victorious team in Japan." All of the regulars then glared daggers at the red headed first year who wasn't even fazed by them. This was when the coach decided to step into the gym to the surprise of every single being in the gym.

"Coach." Shiba looked at the man but he ignored the regulars and walked up to the first year who still had his smirk on his face.

"You think you can win against the regulars in an all-out match?" He asked him simply.

"With the right pawns, I think I'll obtain victory." Akashi said with confidence. "However, as they are now, I believe that they'll need a few weeks before they'll be ready."

"Is that so, then they'll take on your challenge and after a month, we'll put the position of regular at stake. This will happen after the first match of the Interhigh and if you are able to beat them before the next match, which would be in the next two days afterwards, then consider yourselves regulars."

"Why give two days, coach. Why not make this a sudden death? Loser of the match walks, after all the motto does state that 'winners gain and losers vain...' no mercy on the battlefield, desu ne, kan-toku?(right, coach?)"

"Yeah, you're right. Very well, the day after the Interhigh will be the challenge match for regular." The coach shook on it. "You may pick those whom you deem worthy to be your team, but remember this, if you lose, you will all be dismissed from the club. You did disrespect your sempai after all." The coach said with a hint of amusement in his tone. Akashi grinned and immediately picked his team, "Murasakibara, Aomine, Midorima, Haizaki... you all come with me." He said as he then walked off with the four of them trailing behind.

Momoi just watched as the conversation unravelled and she couldn't help but sigh in relief that it was over. She then checked over the list to see who was in which string and found that each of the players that Akashi had picked were all chosen for first string. She then noticed a third page and turned to find that it was a third string group list, if you could call it a list. She glanced at it wide eyed and found that only a single person was put in the very first ever third string and it was Kuroko Tetsuya. She looked at the page and then looked at the boy who looked indifferent even after finding out that he was the only one admitted to the group, though no one took much notice to the boy as they all were then sent to their own respective gymnasiums. The first string and regulars all stayed as the second stringers were led to the one next door. Kuroko was then directed by Kaibara to go and join the other second stringers for practice despite being the only third stringer. The boy only nodded and walked off by himself with a basketball at hand. Momoi couldn't help but feel guilty but there was nothing that she could do about it. She then turned her attention towards Aomine who didn't seem as thrilled about being part of a team that could potentially get kicked out of the club but he didn't seem as fazed by it; in fact, neither did the others.

"So why were we picked to become the ones to potentially get kicked out of the club, Aka-chin?" Murasakibara asked the boy.

"We aren't going to be the ones to leave this club, I can assure you that even as we stand, we'll be able to beat them however, I not only want to beat them, I want to crush them." Akashi said sadistically.

"Wouldn't that be going a bit far?" Aomine wondered out loud only to get a glare from Akashi which freaked him a bit.

"The motto of this school speaks the truth, only the strong prevail and thrive upon victory while the rest are unneeded, excess baggage." Akashi said in a wide eyed, monotone voice. "Victory is preordained and it is left for us to take." Midorima, upon hear this, just pushed his glasses up his face and looked at Akashi. He wasn't sure about taking this basketball thing seriously as it was only a mandatory club activity in his eyes but he didn't want to speak against the red head as he seemed to be unsafe when defied.

"Well whatever the result, I'll be good either way." Haizaki shrugged as he threw the ball around a bit. "But if we could be them now, then why wait till they play the first round?" He questioned.

"I'll allow the sempai one last game and provide other snooping schools a small preview of what our school is capable of and once we hit the court the next game, we'll take them all by surprise." Akashi "For now, Murasakibara, center; Aomine, power forward; Haizaki, small forward; Midorima, shooting guard and I, point guard. With this, we'll crush them and take on the rest of the tournament."

**Hey, hope you guys liked it  
****Pretty serious stuff isn't it  
****Not much humor today but that's okay sometimes right?  
****Oh well, thanks again for your responses to this story  
****I'll be back next time**

**And no omake today sorry -.-  
****~Owari desu**


	4. Chapter 4: It'll Be Easy Enough

**Hello… it seems I lied when I said that this'll be my go to story for writers block  
****It seems like this will be my first priority from now on…  
****I feel bad however but the Kuroko bug is hard to resist isn't it?**

**Alright, so it's time to do a little skipping and head straight for the match huh?  
****If I dragged this out, then even I might lose interest and it's not good when the writer does  
****It ruins the story for everyone and I've experienced that, not a good feeling  
****You're just left with disappointment and… yeah**

**I'm rambling again haha but whatevs  
****Saaaaaa~… We Start!**

**Disclaimer: No ownership towards this story, franchise, series, whatever thing you wanna call it… whatever you call it, I don't own it… makes you feel sorta hollow doesn't it?**

small note about the update to this... haha i just read the light novel translations for Kuroko no Basuke and found a small error in naming haha  
so imma just change that... other than this, nothings changed hehe sorry for the mix up  


* * *

Chapter 4: It'll Be Easy Enough

The few weeks seemed to have gone by pretty quickly in Aomine's opinion though it wasn't exactly as relaxing as he wanted his first month to have gone. Akashi seemed to have been pounding on them since he made the bet with the coach, which he'd formally introduced himself as Mori Katsuya, and has been giving them extra practices after the regular practices which didn't seem as tough when comparing them to Akashi's. In the end, everyone had improved fairly quickly, even the 'so called' newbie, Midorima. They'd gotten to know each other fairly well as well and had gotten used to each other's little habits which they've all started to take notice of, even though it annoyed the cr** out of each other.

For instance, he'd never seen Murasakibara without a sugary snack before, between and after practice. He used to carry them around the gym but was scolded by Momoi and Akashi about his eating habits, that didn't stop him however. Next there was Midorima's unhealthy, again in his opinion, obsession with this new fortune telling show thing called Oha-sa and he does whatever this thing told him to do to maintain whatever luck he had, even to the point of getting lucky items every day. It seemed that he did whatever it took to make sure to succeed in whatever he wanted to do, even going as far as relying on and making charms. Then came Haizaki who seemed fairly troubled each time he saw him. He had a nasty habit of picking on others to the point of getting warnings and being nearly kicked out of practice by the coach.

Aomine liked to tease people every once in a while as well but this guy was pretty extreme with his 'teasing'. Akashi was on a whole other level when it came to habits. First there was his invisible pen clicking with his thumb while he thought to himself. He always seemed to be deep in thought and stared wide eyed at a single spot, it didn't make it any better when this spot happened to be on another person, probably by accident. (A/N: that would freak me out so much -.-') And whatever he did, he always got his way, no matter what it was, and he didn't limit it to the basketball club alone. He heard from Murasakibara and Midorima, whom were both in his classroom, that the teacher didn't like picking fights with the red head either. It appears that there was an incident that had happened at the beginning of the year and the teacher insists that he not talk about it with others.

Momoi even had her little quirks but he did obtain all of this information thanks to her. It was scary what things she had been able to dig up in such a short time. She had every single piece of data on every member of the club and even on other school teams. She even amazed Akashi with her ability and he was the hardest person on the planet to please. "Aomine-kun~ are you listening to me?" Momoi snapped the boy out of his thoughts as he blinked a few times before snapping back to the reality that was his classroom.

"Hmm? What was that Satsuki?" Aomine yawned as he stared at the girl.

"I said that the sempai-tachi had beaten their opponents the day before and are moving on to the next round." Momoi puffed her cheeks, ticked off that she had to repeat herself.

"Ahh, alright." Aomine then laid his head back down on the desk.

"Aomine-kun, you remember that the match is today after school right?" She looked at him skeptically as she poked his shoulder.

"Hai, hai, Akashi wouldn't stop reminding us yesterday." The tan boy grumbled.

"Akashi-kun sure is confident in winning, isn't he?" Momoi thought about the other.

"He was confident the first day that he proposed this match. If not, then he wouldn't have done it at all."

"So da, ne?" Momoi smiled at him as she looked at the records that she kept with her. Kuroko just looked at the two as they spoke with each other. Since that proposal, Aomine seemed to have been much sleepier in class than before and had rarely talked to anyone. Momoi even became busier with her manager duties and both barely talk to him anymore despite him being right behind them. He didn't mind of course due to him and his lack of presence and it gave him more of a chance to catch up on his reading. However, he was interested in the match today and couldn't wait to see the results. Practice was also suspended for the day but they were all expected to watch, not that there wasn't a person interested in the game either. The final bell then rang and they were all dismissed for the day. Kuroko got up from his seat and casually walked out and headed towards the gym, meanwhile, Momoi was having trouble trying to get Aomine out of his seat.

"Hey! You gonna watch that game today?" a second year asked his friend.

"Yeah, I can't wait to see those cocky first years get destroyed by the regulars." He said as they walked over towards their other friends. Kuroko had been in the middle of the hallway at the time but had been able to dodge them with ease. It seemed to him that this match was the buzz of the school so he decided to get there early in order to get a good view.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Kuroko had walked into the gym and found it to be filled with spectators already, though he was still able to find a suitable spot on the balcony of the gym where he can get a full view of the game. The regulars were excused from classes that day due to the request of the buchou, Kaibara and the acceptance of Mori-sensei. They weren't drenched in sweat but it was obvious that they were working hard in order to beat their opponents this time around. The coach had accepted the condition of not being able to help either team practice for the month and was deemed a spectator for the match as well. This led him to find an acceptable, impartial referee instead of having either team find someone.

"Alright! Everyone break!" Kaibara exclaimed as the regulars all paused, then headed for the bench. There were murmurs to be heard and the occasional cheer from fangirls around the gym but none of the guys paid any attention to it. Suddenly, there was a hush in the air as the doors toward the change rooms were opened. Everyone turned their attention towards the first years that had appeared, their presence was enough to leave everyone in awe at how composed they were despite the stakes they were up against.

"Ne, Aka-chin, can I eat my candy right now?" Murasakibara asked, breaking the silence between them.

"That's a nasty habit you have there, you sweet tooth giant." Haizaki poked at the taller male.

"I told you that you'll get them back after the game." Akashi said without looking back.

"Already blackmailing him, Akashi?" Aomine tried to be lighthearted about this though he still couldn't get the fact that someone's gonna have to leave the team after this game out of his head. Momoi waited beside the coach as she waved towards Aomine who just smiled back awkwardly at her without a gesture. He didn't want to draw attention between him and Momoi since they were childhood friends but that's how he wanted to keep it between them and nothing more.

"It's just a formality, Daiki." Aomine still couldn't get used to the fact that Akashi uses peoples' first names right off the bat.

"Today is a good day for Cancer." Midorima snuck into the conversation.

"No one asked you!" Aomine yelled out.

"Today's lucky item is..." Midorima started as he brought up a conch.

"No one cares!" Aomine cut him off again as he was getting tired of hearing their horoscopes every day. It wasn't that the mix and matched team didn't click with each other, it was the fact that they were all so different and just had quirks that annoyed each other to no end. Everyone just sweatdropped at the boys' conversations as their voices echoed in the gymnasium.

"These were the first years that challenged the regulars?" Someone questioned as there were other similar comments being broadcasted around.

"They all seem so normal!" someone else commented.

"I thought they'd be some sort of monsters."

"Well, that one with the purple hair seems like a monster." The comments didn't stop. Upon hearing these, the group was getting a bit tense and desperately wanted to prove them all wrong but Akashi had shut them up and told them to sit on the bench.

"Aren't we gonna warm up, Aka-chin?" Murasakibara broke the silence between them again.

"I believe it to be best to wait until the game to show what we've got." Akashi grinned diabolically. They all exchanged glances but just left it as it was.

"They aren't gonna warm up? How much cockiness can they have?" These first years irked Hibiki to no end as he just wanted to pound on them at that moment.

"I said not to let them get to you didn't I?" Shiba tried to calm him down. "Whatever they do, just don't bother yourself over it and focus on the game."

"In all honesty, I don't feel the slightest bit of compassion for them either but the rules prohibit any violence against any team member." Yagami said cooly much to his disappointment.

"What are you guys talking about, we can... beat them." Yoshida said, his voice filled with obvious doubt.

"Come on, guys! Don't let them psyche you out." Kaibara tried to get their spirits up. "We're the ones that everyone looks up to and if we can't uphold that then we don't deserve to play as regulars." He said with confidence and they all looked at their captain's determined face. They then felt the pride that their Taichou had held and they agreed full heartedly to play to the best of their abilities.

"Let's destroy those punks!" Hibiki exclaimed as they all looked at him skeptically. "I mean... let's all go out there and have a... uh... good, fair game?" Hibiki said with uncertainty in his voice. The others just rolled their eyes as they all lined up on the court. The first years were already there waiting for them.

(A/N: alright I'm sure that I didn't clarify this earlier and didn't give the regulars (who are ocs btws if you were wondering) positions that they played for so here they are: Kaibara, center, guarding Murasakibara (since he's the tallest, he also does the jump ball); Shiba, point guard, guarding Akashi (that must be extremely fun); Hibiki, small forward, guarding Haizaki (can't wait to see that unfold); Yagami, shooting guard, guarding Midorima (small tidbit, he wears fake eye glasses... just for fun I guess; bet that would piss off Midorin); and finally Yoshida, power forward, guarding Aomine (that's pretty normal) aaannnndd, in case you were wondering about the past chapter, chapter 2 to be exact, let's just say that they wanted to try different positions is all, so they were giving a handicap towards the first years... that's all I wanted to say, chow)

The referee, who was taken from a community center not so far away from the school, (don't ask how he got involved) then motioned for them all to bow towards each other and then take their positions. Aomine was picked to do the jump ball which surprised the regulars. It seemed as though Akashi wanted to test Aomine's jumping power against his sempai as well as have a backup plan for if he didn't make the ball, which meant for Murasakibara to stay back, closer to the basket. At the same time, he was pushing the sempai's confidence and level headedness right before the game started; he figured that this would up their chances at pulling ahead as well. It was killing three birds with one stone as he put it.

There was a deafening silence that overtook the gym as they waited for the referee to blow the whistle as he threw the ball in the air. As the whistle blew, both players soared for the ball in hopes of getting it for their team. In the same moment, everyone cheered out towards the one whom they thought would get the ball. To their shock, Aomine had delayed his jumped a few seconds before Kaibara's but this didn't faze him at all as he focused his all into getting this ball. What shocked him was what had happened afterwards, Aomine had suddenly shot up as the ball touched his fingertips and then he snatched it away in the blink of an eye. His take off was so fast that he didn't know what had hit him until he landed.

Aomine had shot the ball towards Haizaki who had dribbled the ball over the half court line before passing it towards Akashi who then swiftly threw it over to Midorima who was waiting at the three pointer line. _"I'll make this shot."_ He thought determinedly as he lined up his aim, not minding that Yagami was right in front of his view.

_=Flashback=_

_Midorima was having trouble getting used to this game and getting used to the position that was suddenly thrust upon him by the redhead. Said redhead then approached him and asked what was wrong. "I just don't feel comfortable being directly involved in this basketball thing." He said honestly. _

"_If you aren't comfortable, then you shouldn't have come in the first place." Akashi said harshly. _

"_I just needed a club activity to fulfill requirements." Midorima said, this was definitely a bad mistake on his part, he just didn't know it until it hit him... hard. Akashi fumed and shot him a glare so menacing that his legs nearly gave way. _

"_Basketball isn't a fulfilling requirement, it's a sport that was made to be loved and played to one's heart's content. If you have a problem understanding this then you should leave this instant." Akashi yelled much to the surprise of the other team members who stayed after practice. Midorima was shocked by the words and took his lucky item, a rainbow colored, silk handerchief and left the gym floor but as he stepped in front of the door towards the exit, it suddenly hit him that he didn't want to leave. He felt a pain in his heart that told him that if he left at that very moment, then he would regret it for the rest of his life. _

"_Akashi!" He exclaimed as the redhead didn't turn around to look him in the eyes. "I want to learn how to play real basketball." Midorima said for the first time since he'd first step foot in the gym. He felt like he wanted to excel, not only in studies, but in the sport as well, especially in the position that Akashi had appointed to him. He wanted to be the best in this area and wanted to beat anyone who tried to take the position away from him._

_Akashi then turned towards him with a wide smile. "I knew you couldn't leave. I'll teach you how to shoot a basket and you'll have to take it from there. After this, you will take it into any direction that you wish whether it be shooting with lay ups or three pointers or..." Akashi didn't get to finish his sentence however. _

"_You are able to shoot a basket for three points?" The green haired boy asked, obviously he didn't pay any attention to the games that he's recently played. Akashi forgave the boy for cutting him off but just this once. _

"_Yes, however, they're only worth three once you're outside this ring." He showed him the three pointer line. "Anywhere outside of this counts for three points. Anything inside is worth two." He explained. Midorima nodded in understanding. "First, let me see you shoot a basket from the foul line." Akashi brought him towards the top of the key. Midorima lined up his body like he'd seen in books that he's read about basketball basics and shot it perfectly however the trajectory was off. Everyone watched as the ball glided through the air gracefully and awaited what they expected to be a swoosh, however, it ended up being an air ball and just bounced away from the boy who stood their frozen with embarrassment. Everyone just sweatdropped and listened to the bounce... bounce...bounce..bouncebouncebounce of the ball._

"_Well that was anticlimactic." Haizaki poked fun once again as they resumed their practicing right before Akashi turned towards them and doubled their training menus._

"_That was my fault, I can't judge distances." Midorima said towards the other. _

"_Let me ask you, Shintaro," Akashi looked at the boy straight in the eyes. "are you good in both physics and geometry?" Midorima nodded in response, he was, after all, at the top of his class. _

_=End of Flashback=_

"Let me tell you this sempai..." Midorima then started to rise up on his toes as he was about to take the shot. "I excel in school subjects and by using this, I'm able to calculate the best route for this ball to take to assure that it gets into the place where I want it to go." Midorima said and shot the ball which appeared to be straight up in the air.

"Wow, where is that guy aiming for?" Someone in the crowd joked as the ball suddenly angled and dove straight for the basket, shutting him up.

"T-that's impossible..." Yagami looked in awe as the ball swiftly made it through.

"I'll make sure to never miss a basket for as long as I live." Midorima announced as he pushed his glasses up on his face and ran back to play defense. Aomine ran up to him and patted him on the shoulder like he did in their first game together.

"See, I told you that you'd make flawless shots like that." Aomine smiled like an idiot as he then ran off even faster. _"That guy is into basketball way too much for my liking." _Thought Midorima but couldn't help but smile at the comment that was given to him.

"I thought I had him." Yagami was still in shock.

"Don't mind it, we'll get it back." Yoshida tried to insist but it seemed as though it wasn't getting through properly. "Come on, we're on the attack, you have to set your mind forward and push on." Yoshida said suddenly determined and then ran towards the attack zone. Right now, the players all saw the court as a battlefield and refused to let the other take victory. Kaibara passed the ball to Shiba as the point guard ran forward and looked for an open man. He glanced to his left and found Hibiki to be wide open, he decided to throw the shot there before Akashi came up to block him. When he noticed the boy's eyes glaring up at him, he couldn't help but feel a little scared of him and decided to try and avoid eye contact from now on.

Hibiki managed to grab the ball but he was immediately stopped by Haizaki who looked at his sempai, his face filled with taunting smirks. "You better wipe that smile off your face." Hibiki growled, warning the other.

"I'm sure that my face has a free will of its own. It can make whatever kind of face it wants." He said challengingly in a joking manner. Hibiki just growled again but this time went left at high speed but then suddenly changed towards the right and then passed the boy. He then passed the ball to Kaibara who then immediately sent it over to Yagami who was in the clear for a two pointer since Midorima was still inexperienced in blocking or boxing out for that matter. Although, he had no choice but to shoot a two pointer due to Akashi blocking his way towards the three pointer line. He sighed and took the shot which was good, making the score 3-2 with the first years leading. So far, only 2 and a half minutes have passed and the first years were on the attack once again. Aomine passed to Akashi who took his time as he dribbled down the court. He thought about their positionings slowly and then made his move. He stepped over the line only to be guarded immediately by Shiba whom was not looking into his eyes but at his forehead, which wasn't so hard due to the height difference.

Being pissed off by this, Akashi then headed straight for a foul and Shiba then braced himself but as he flinched, Akashi had gotten around him in that moment and dribbled down the court in a straight line. He looked over towards Midorima who then nodded and he tossed the ball in his direction. However, Yagami saw their momentary eye connection and went for an interception. What he didn't expect was for a team member to make the interception instead. Aomine suddenly dove out of nowhere and stole the ball and dribbled down the court. He had no trouble out running Yoshida but he was suddenly blocked by Kaibara who was inside the key. Aomine, thinking on his toes, tossed the ball towards Murasakibara who was way taller than any of them. Murasakibara then went for a shot but ironically missed but that didn't stop the tanned boy from turning the shot into an alley oop and gained another two points for his team.

"Nice team play!" someone exclaimed as the cheers grew stronger and louder. Kuroko just looked around and noticed that everyone had slowly started to cheer for the first years. At first, the cheers were directed towards the sempai but as he's heard, one by one, Akashi's team was gaining the audiences' support. He just couldn't believe that they turned this whole thing around in only 4 minutes into the game.

"They're wonderful aren't they?" one of the girls beside the boy said.

"Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they won." Her friend said.

"Sasuga, Mine-chin." Murasakibara praised the other.

"Domo, Murasakibara." Aomine said to the other as they ran towards their basket.

"Here we go again." Kaibara then passed the ball to Shiba again as he ran but then immediately passed to Yagami who threw it over to Hibiki but it didn't connect as Haizaki intercepted. He was about to make a break for it when his check had stood in front of him.

"I'm not letting you take the ball that easy." He said as he then put his arms up in defense. Haizaki put on a bored expression as he bounced the ball idly.

"I think it'll be easy enough." He said as he then broke straight left. Hibiki then motioned to block him but then Haizaki broke towards the right much faster. _"Whaa~, I just did this move but he moves so much faster."_ Saying that Hibiki was stunned would've been an understatement as the freshmen small forward had passed him with ease just like had said initially and then drove the ball inside the basket, earning him another two points.

Point count: 7-2, time left in the first quarter: 4 minutes and 20 seconds...

**Saa minna~ what'd you think?  
****I'm probably gonna drag this on for a bit but may skip some things in the second and maybe third quarter  
****But you should expect some flashbacks of their practices from the few weeks prior**

**Hope you guys liked it… and I hope you hadn't forgotten Kuroko while reading this  
****I too got swept up in writing about the basketball game and nearly forgot about poor Kuro-chin!  
****Bad me, bad me!**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake-  
(yay omake time! Haha, remember what I said about the referee?)

The kan-toku, Mori-sensei, had been looking around the area for a proper coach and even went to the extent of having asked other teachers, other middle and high school coaches and community coaches but nobody wanted to make the time to coach a silly game in a middle school. Akashi had seen the coached and walked up to him, curious about his current state.

"Kan-toku, have you found us a suitable person to be our referee?" the redhead asked the usually cool coach.

"I've asked many people but nobody wants to take time off just to ref this match for free." He said as he rubbed his forehead.

"Do you have any preferences?" Akashi wondered.

"I suspect the coach in the community center down the road to be acceptable, given that he doesn't know many middle schoolers and has quite a bit of experience when coaching and noticing different plays. However, like I said, he won't do it for free." Akashi grinned at this and told the coach to excuse him for a moment from practice. The coach looked at the boy for a moment and saw a glint in his eye as he walked out of the gym, not waiting for his permission.

About fifteen minutes later, Akashi had returned and Mori'd noticed the presence of a finely sharped pencil in the boy's hand as he walked past the coach. "Make sure to listen for your phone, Kan-toku." Akashi said as he continued to walk past him. Mori just raised an eyebrow at the boy who then commenced practice again. Suddenly, his phone rang much to his surprise and he answered it.

"Moshi moshi, Mori here." He answered calmly.

"_Domo, this is coach Tanaka down at the community center, and I'd like to accept being the referee for your game."_ He said with slight panic in his voice.

"But you do know that I won't be paying, it'll be a benefit sort of deal." Mori informed him.

"_That's q-quite alright. I'll be there." _With that, the other hung up.

"Seems like someone gave him quite a scare..." He then directed his gaze towards a certain redhead who took a short glance backwards and then passed the ball in his hands. The coach then noticed an evil smirk upon his face.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Haha, just wanted to say that I love Akashi… even if not much is revealed about him as of yet  
****And I wanted to apologize to Kuroko again!**

**Gomenasai, Kurokocchi~! Whaa~  
****-Owari desu^^**


	5. Chapter 5: The Entire Reason

**Yup yup yup, I'm getting pretty busy now a days and am trying to juggle all the stories  
****And I have a real nasty habit of just putting stories out there without much thought  
****Nor whether I'll actually finish it or not**

**But I'm real glad you guys are taking these chapters positively  
****I've just been writing them at like three in the morning then editing them during the day  
****Lots and lots of work haha  
****Plus I got other things to do with my social life**

**Well, enough about my habits… let's get on with the story  
****We Start~**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Kuroko no Basuke, I'm just using my imagination to fill in plot points that I think should happen… it isn't my fault that people like it right?  
**

* * *

Chapter 5: The Entire Reason

***Beeeeeeppp***

The final buzzer had rung as Midorima had released the ball and tried for a three pointer. The ball had bounced around the hoop a bit before sliding in. It was only the end of the first quarter and his shots were already getting less and less accurate. "I need more training." Midorima took note as he and the others went over towards the bench for a two minute break. The score so far was 15 – 7 with the first years barely doubling the score.

"We'll need to push harder in the next two quarters." Akashi stated as the other boys rehydrated. "For the second quarter, I want you to take as many points as you can while looking like you're all spent and have pushed yourselves too hard in the first quarter." Akashi instructed.

"So you want us to bluff about our strength?" Aomine asked.

"Exactly." Akashi grinned manically, holding back a chuckle. "During this break, take deep breaths and don't exert too much energy. Use just enough to make sure you don't freeze up your muscles." Akashi spoke like a professional trainer, not that it came as a big surprise to the boys due to their three weeks of training. Despite all of the pressure of the game, Akashi was as level headed as ever, constantly thinking of the next move and predicting the game patterns in his mind.

The buzzer than rang, signalling both teams to get back on the court. The ball had gone to the regulars' team and they'd commenced, trying to shrink the gap so as not to make themselves seem as weak as they'd felt, playing against their kouhai. Hibiki had gotten the ball but passed it off right away due to Haizaki coming up behind him, limiting his actions. Shiba seemed to be in the same position with Akashi and passed it to Kaibara.

Kaibara had gotten the ball near the center of the court and looked around. The kouhai were doing a man to man defensive system while Murasakibara waited for him in the key. _"I think I see what they're doing..."_ Kaibara thought to himself as he strode cautiously towards the key. _"It seems like our kouhai have all gotten in way over their heads and have used too much energy in the first quarter to try and get as much points as possible to keep a steady lead."_ The taichou deduced as he then drove forward towards Murasakibara and had somehow gotten past him, scoring with a layup.

The crowd cheered as the score then changed to 15 – 9. "A six point difference, sasuga sempai-tachi!" a couple of first years commented from the sidelines. Coach Mori was impressed with the sudden basket that Kaibara had made but his expression had remained emotionless so as to not show any favoritism or enjoyment for one team's goal and the other's loss.

The entire play had lasted about 3 minutes but quickly after, Aomine had run towards the basket and shot it swiftly but the regulars didn't miss the fact that he'd moved a bit slower than the first quarter. "Time out!" Kaibara called and the referee had allowed it. The teams quickly gathered together as their time is limited. There were murmurs about why the captain would call a timeout so soon after the first two baskets, however they took no notice of the audience at this point.

"What's the deal, calling a timeout?" Yoshida wondered, not waiting for the captain's explanation.

"I have a feeling that our young kouhai have all run out of steam." He said as they all took a quick glance towards the others.

"They are sweating a lot." Yagami noted.

"It's not like we're any better. But I have noticed a decrease in resistance." Shiba shared as well, wiping a few drops from his left cheek with his back hand.

"If they are running out of steam, then we have a chance to turn this around, don't we?" Hibiki asked.

"I still feel a bit uneasy about using our full power but we'll just try and score as much as we can, agreed?" Kaibara looked at the others on his team. The others exchanged glances then agreed full heartedly.

Meanwhile, with the other team. "You think they noticed that we're holding back?" Aomine asked worriedly.

"If I'm seeing what I think I'm seeing, then it's highly possible that they knew that we aren't up to the pace that we've been playing with in the first quarter. I doubt that they're able to see whether or not we're holding back." Akashi explained simply. "Regardless, keep scoring and just appear to be barely keeping up with their pace. But if you go with your own pace, then theirs won't even matter." The redhead finished his speech.

"However, you'll want us to hide the fact that we're going at our own pace." Midorima added in.

"You catch on fast, Shintarou." Akashi grinned.

"I still don't get it." Murasakibara said lazily.

"Whatever, as long as we win." Haizaki slouched. The buzzer then sounded, signifying that the timeout was over. The game had went along as Akashi and Kaibara had predicted, that the juniors wouldn't pose as much of a threat as before and that the seniors would then eventually push themselves harder to close the gap and pull ahead of the juniors. Though they did score as much as they'd hoped, the regulars all looked at the score at the end of the second quarter and found themselves still in the same position, trailing behind the juniors. However this time with an even worse score of 13 – 28, juniors leading.

With it being half time now, both teams will be able to get time to think and reflect on their own mistakes and plan out game strategies. He knew that he hasn't been playing the sport for a long time but Kuroko did know how to observe and read people's general thoughts. It was a hobby of his to observe people after all, and he'd pretty much figured that this entire game was manipulated and played by Akashi entirely. It was as though he was bearing down on them all like they were merely game pieces and played to his will. With that said, if Akashi is the game master, then Kaibara must be the challenger. He did after all call the shots and read plays better than anyone else on the team, which made him his own team's mastermind.

Though if this really were huge board game, then even Kaibara-taichou himself would be considered as the main pawn compared to Akashi's lower pawns. Kuroko had pieced together potentially what Akashi had initially planned out and he'd seen it in action due to Aomine's unnatural movement in his first basket of the second quarter. All that was left to think about was whether or not Kaibara-taichou would figure out that the other team is still holding back power or if his overthinking on pride, underestimating the opposing team as a result, would continue to cloud his judgement for the rest of the game, leading towards his own team's downfall.

Kuroko had a fairly good idea as to where this game is headed just by looking at the facial expressions of both captains. Kuroko then just leaned on the railing and awaited the game's end. Shiba and the others, on the other hand, were all getting a bit anxious due to the sudden point gap increase from 6 to 15. They weren't wrong about the first years losing their edge since the first quarter but that didn't stop them from increasing the distance between their points and the others.

"Taichou, what are we supposed to do? They seem to be slowing down like we thought but the point difference isn't decreasing at all." Shiba panted as they sat on the bench again.

"Hopefully, the next quarter will be better." Yoshida tried to stay positive as the others mumbled in a doubtful agreement. Even Kaibara was starting to doubt that he was reading the situation correctly as well.

"Let's just try our best and hope for the best." The rest of the team just sat there shocked as their captain had stood up. They've never really heard Kaibara say those kinds of words before, usually he was so positive and uplifting but that phrase just seemed like he wanted them to just make it through this alive. But it wasn't like they could blame him, they were losing their spots as regulars all because of some underclassmen and there's nothing that they could really do about it.

With the upperclassmen slowing down in the third quarter, the first years decided that it was time to up the power a bit and score even more than before. This was turning out to be devastating as Akashi had silently ordered the team to run around with the ball to wear them out and guard with all their energy. Aomine was hopping around with the ball and seemed to be simply tossing the balls in the baskets. Murasakibara was the same due to his height. Midorima's shot at this point in time were unstoppable due to Yagami's weariness unless Midorima's shot bounced out which did occur half the time due to inexperience. Haizaki was still pressuring Hibiki to the point where he'd nearly gotten 4 fouls and had to back off on his techniques, which did have a record to sometimes get him fouls. Especially with opponents who knew how to make a realistic looking foul and to him, Haizaki seemed like that type of person. Akashi played the most normal out of everyone, though he still won in the intimidation area.

The third quarter ended with a devastating 56 – 18.

Akashi then executed his master plan and instructed the team to go full on.

_=Flashback=_

"_So Akashi, how are we going to win against the sempai? They obviously have more experience than we do and have gotten pretty far in the tournament last year." Aomine wondered as he shot a freethrow. _

"_I'm well aware of our sempai's strengths as well as their weaknesses and habits." Nobody wanted to know how he had found this out. "It's basic knowledge to know that humans can't kick old habits that easily and as I've said previously, they are lacking and are unworthy of the positions that they hold presently. If anything, they're abusing them and are being completely overestimated." _

"_Is Aka-chin going to use this against them?" Murasakibara asked with a chip hanging out of his mouth. _

"_I'll develop a sure fire plan to make sure that they keep from scoring as much as they're used to." Akashi refrained from chuckling as he thought of the possibilities. He'd heard from Momoi that the regulars had won their previous game with the score being 74 – 40 but if they hadn't won at this point in time, then it was definitely out of the question for them to remain as regulars. "And you are all still developing your talents but we can win if we play our cards right." Akashi added._

"_So you're saying that the team is still immature?" Midorima asked as he paused his practice on posture and angle._

"_Precisely, there are many things that you all can still improve on but there's lots of time. We'll make sure you learn enough to obliterate our so called sempai. And make sure to memorize our exercise training for we'll be doing this sort of training regularly with the other club members after we win this game." Everyone nodded, though they still had trouble adjusting to the redhead's overconfidence but unfortunately, they all had no idea what they were agreeing to. All you can say is that there was a lot of blood, sweat and tears, screaming and agony that went on for the next three weeks._

_=Flashback Ends=_

The team had taken the upperclassmen by surprise as they suddenly exploded with energy and breezed by them as they were all wiped out. "What's going on?"

"Were they just holding back this whole time?"

"What's with their energy all of a sudden?"

"What's up with the sempai-tachi?" The crowd was getting a bit anxious as the first years were shooting basket by basket. Even when the regulars were on offense, the ball was lost in seconds as it was stolen by either, Aomine or Haizaki, not that it mattered since Murasakibara was guarding the key. This fourth quarter seemed to have been a repeat of the first quarter but even worse due to the fact that they're overwhelmingly behind in points and in spirit.

It was getting harder and harder to watch for the audience, in fact, it was hard to watch since the second quarter. They didn't like this one sided sort of game but it wasn't up to them to decide. Kuroko had seen the ending result or at least, easily predicted the ending and did not feel the need to see the final result. He then decided that it was enough for the day and left. Momoi just sat beside the coach, gripping the clipboard in her hands.

"There's no need to be so worried." Mori-kantoku had said to the pink haired girl.

"Wh-what?" Momoi sounded surprise by the sudden conversation springing up. She looked towards the coach who still hid behind his aviator sunglasses, looking forward with a seemingly hard gaze.

"They decided to take part and they worked hard to make sure that they didn't lose." He said coldly.

"Demo, wasn't it Kantoku that made the deal with Akashi-kun?" Momoi asked, seeing as the regulars didn't really have a say in this bet. They were just made part of it without their consent.

"If they didn't want to compete, then they could've backed out by saying that it was my words and not theirs that agreed to the challenge. It seems that Akashi had given them a backdoor to make an easy escape and knowing Kaibara, he would notice such an obvious loophole. However, he didn't take it, nor did he mention it; not that he had to for that matter."

"You mean that the others realized it too?" She asked innocently.

"I would say maybe half at most." Mori said in a joking way but remained true to his character and remained the stoic type of coach.

Momoi had caught this small joke but kept her laughter inwards. "So I guess they chose their pride over their positions, but I bet they'll be pretty upset when they lose." She commented sadly as she watched them struggle in the last bit of the match.

"If they lose and then get upset about it, then they have no right to be on this team. It would just prove that they were all just cocky players who thought they had what it took to win nationals. Or even worse off, players who thought that getting to the semifinals would be good enough." Mori sounded serious as he spoke. As Momoi listened, she figured that he was right. If they didn't have what it took to beat a newly formed team filled with slightly above average, amateur playing freshmen, then they really couldn't be taken as a serious threat; especially when they were clearly being played around with by Akashi. Well, clearly in her eyes.

"I guess you do have a point there." She agreed with a small smile of understanding.

"It's not the point, it's the entire reason. I'm not sure if that first year captain had realized it or if he was just being overconfident in himself, but it seemed clear to him and to me that they weren't fit to be the regulars. That they were lacking something vital." He then put his hand on his chin.

Momoi just laughed to herself, letting out a little smile and laugh. "I bet Akashi-kun did realize that the sempai-tachi weren't what they seemed to be, after all, he's still the captain of the hard to manage team of first years. I've seen their practices and it was a little rough at the start, especially with Haizaki-kun's personality and everyone's different habits and interests. But the one that had made them stick together was Akashi-kun."

"That's interesting to hear." Mori said to the girl as the match came to its awaited conclusion.

**Haa~ finished  
****And I just wanted to say, I made a poll for those who are following my one shots  
****I hope you guys are enjoying them!  
****And I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a bit rushed too  
****And probably not as exciting -.-'**

**But now it's over  
****I'll try and update faster in the future ^^  
****Owari desu~**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake-  
(yeah, fun time haha, hopefully ^^)

As the four players continued their training, Akashi had said that he had to go away for a moment. He said something about threatening a coach at a community center but they either didn't take it seriously or thought they'd heard him wrong. However, they took this opportunity to talk about what would happen if they did win the match against the sempai.

"It wouldn't be so bad if we won. That would mean that we'd be instant regulars." Aomine said with a smile as they all then started to do one squat, then jumped a few feet back into a squat and then repeated this until they got to the opposite side of the gym. (sort of like a frog, their hands behind their heads)

"Yes we'd be regulars but that would mean that we'd have to work harder than everyone else." Haizaki sighed as he tried to keep up with the energy pumped Aomine.

"Hmmm, it'd be nice to play basketball against other sempais from other schools." Murasakibara said as he ate gummy worms while jumping.

"Murasakibara, I think you're defeating the purpose of doing this exercise while eating sugar snacks." Midorima said with a scolding tone.

"It's fine." The purple haired boy mumbled as he continued to eat.

"It is not fine, you could choke and you actually look like a frog!" Midorima exclaimed upon realizing this last fact. "Are you taking this seriously?" Midorima questioned seriously as Aomine just laughed as he looked at Murasakibara as he continued to chew. The boy finally gave up his snack and continued the training. This time, they decided to do crab walks sideways.

"You know what I just realized, if we win, didn't Akashi say that we'd have to do these exercises every day with the other club members?" Aomine realized in shock.

"These are hard enough, imagine what he'll do when we're regulars." Midorima's glasses flashed ominously as he thought on it as well. Murasakibara was still as impartial as ever.

"But we can't lose either, if we do, what do you think he'll do?" Haizaki reminded them too.

"If we lose..." Aomine shivered. "I don't even want to think about." Without realizing, they all had stopped training and were sitting quietly now.

"I wonder what Aka-chin would do if we lost." Murasakibara had somehow gotten back his gummies and ate them once again.

"No need to worry about that." A menacing voice rang through the gym. They all froze as they looked towards the entrance. They all could've sworn that they saw flashes of lightning behind said boy. "We won't lose but you wouldn't be thinking about such things if it weren't for you all not training." They all then realized that they had all stopped and they instantly stood up.

"I wonder what Aka-chin will do when he's seen us not training and talking about losing." Murasakibara wondered out loud. They all just glared at him though he didn't pay much attention to it.

"Triple all of your training menus plus 30 laps around the outside field." Akashi exclaimed as they all groaned. "Any problems?" Akashi glared at the group as he fiddled with a finely sharpened pencil in his hand. They then remembered what he said he was out doing and they then started to run immediately.


	6. Chapter 6: Can't Be All Bad

**Yay another update  
****And I'm sure that some of you may have noticed but…  
****I have a nasty habit of starting new stories hehe  
****But I'll make sure not to abandon any of them any more  
****I promise that the last one I uploaded will be the last…  
****At least, long term stories, I didn't say anything about one/two/possibly…5 shots ^^**

**Well that's all I wanted to say  
****Now, We Start!**

**Disclaimer: Kuroko no Basuke does not belong to me, and I do not belong to it, though sometimes I wished it ruled my life… haaa~ jk but seriously I don't own it  
**

* * *

Chapter 6: Can't Be All Bad

The sempai had struggled through the game and they managed to scrape some last minute shots but they were still in vain when they final score came up. They had lost to their kouhai, 26 – 78. The gym was dead silent when the final buzzer had rung. No one wanted to say a single word with fear that they may insult either team if they did, therefore they all remained silent. Even the juniors felt a bit guilty, defeating their sempai with such a surprising and large point difference.

The referee then blew his whistle and called for both teams to line up. "Bow!" He exclaimed and they all did.

"Thanks for a good game." They all said in unison. When they were dismissed, neither team moved. They just stayed completely still, waiting for the other to either say something or leave first. Kaibara and Akashi both just stared at each other eye to eye. Akashi surely had nothing to say but the same couldn't be said for the captain.

Everyone just stared on in the awkward silence, waiting for someone to say a word, any word or even a noise. The silence was eating at them, and made them all nervous for they couldn't move or leave the gym without making noise. So they were all forced to stay and witness whatever happened next. The regulars were probably the worst off as they were all humiliated by the junior amateur players. Hibiki couldn't take the silence anymore and was about to say something when Kaibara finally did.

"It seems like your team had won. I guess you were right when you said that we were lacking in something and this game helped me realize what it was. It was my fault guys, I'm sorry I let you down." Kaibara apologized. Everyone in the gym let out a sigh of relief as the tight atmosphere was broken.

"No taichou, if anything, we were the ones who let you down." Shiba said to him.

"I still can't believe we lost this badly to a bunch of newly graduated grade school kids." Hibiki didn't sound as happy.

"If you don't like it, then you'll just have to train harder for it and request a rematch in the future with the new regulars." Mori said as he walked towards the boys.

"Hold on, you mean we can stay in the club?" Yoshida sounded relieved.

"But you all agreed that if you lost, you would walk." Akashi said to them again.

"But the coach just said..." Yoshida was getting confused.

"I'm aware of what the coach has said but that doesn't change the fact that we've had a deal. You lost so you will all walk… Of course I wouldn't be stupid enough to tell you guys to beat it out of the club. After all, we'll need people to help develop the first year newbies." Akashi brushed the subject off as he led the team into the locker rooms.

"Yokatta ne, captain?" Momoi walked over towards the group of boys who all just looked at her.

Kaibara shook his head as he looked at her. "No, I'll be handing over the title of captain to Akashi." He said, looking at the redhead. "It's obvious that he's more suited to be the leader of this club and he'll be able to bring up our school team's status." He said with a hint of admiration.

"But leaving all of this to the first years? Is that really a good thing? People will laugh at us when they find them playing in the next game in two days instead of us." Hibiki objected.

"And they still are a newly formed team." Yagami pitched as well.

"Yes but if we were able to make it to the semis then imagine what they'll accomplish." Yoshida sounded optimistic about this as well.

"And they'll understand why they're playing instead of us, when others do get to play them." Shiba also noted. "But it's true that they're still developing, even Akashi, but that kid'll find his way to improve them all."

"So enough talk on this, we'll let them deal with the big stuff and we'll focus on preparing others for the future." Kaibara announced.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(alright, imma have to do a huge time skip here cuz I'm sure that most of you wouldn't really wanna see the whole development thing, the training and the games that they obviously win and really wish that Kuroko was a part of the chapters more. So imma do it, just a few flashes here and there... kk ciao!)

Two months have passed and the team had gotten used to Akashi as the new team captain... well, as used as they'd be to a crazy, scary boy who isn't afraid to show his sadistic side. The newly formed regulars have gone to the games, surprising the spectators as well as the teams who've come for scouting. The opposing teams were shocked as they prepared for their sempai and not for this team of freshmen. A few coaches had gotten angry at Mori-kantoku but he brushed it off by asking if they were afraid of losing to a bunch of inexperienced freshmen.

Of course, they had to take on the challenge since that's how the male pride thing works. And of course, in the end, they were just played, manipulated and defeated. The teamwork had gotten a bit better as the boys had gotten used to each other's quirks and habits both on and off the court. Akashi even set up a few team outings after games just so that they'd talk and trust each other more.

Midorima had rarely missed shots now as he had gotten used to the trajectories, the weight of the ball and the pressure that came with three pointers. Haizaki had gotten a few less fouls for the various things he tries to attempt, though in some cases, this wasn't a very positive point. Murasakibara was eventually forced to play in the center more, rather than charging into enemy territory but this was just strategy in Akashi's eyes. Aomine had improved as an all-around player and his street basketball form was made certain to not be forgotten, once again commanded by the team captain, since he found it advantageous and intriguing as he wondered how far the boy could go with this certain style.

Even Momoi had gotten better at scouting other teams, finding their weak points, practice schedules, habits and future growth possibilities. Though, she has yet to figure out how to put this into action when predicting their future game patterns or when the best time is to set up a practice game with other schools.

Kuroko had watched as they all grew in their own basketball ways. They'd been his motivation to keep playing, despite being the only third stringer in the history of the Teiko-chuu basketball club. He had wished that he could play with them at least once, despite the fact that he'd instantly lose; a fact that he knew was one hundred percent. Even still, he had seen their practices and was amazed at how they've improved in the two months that they've been present in the club.

(A/N: alright so I heard that school starts in April in Japan and then I guess, going by the manga, the first season of basketball or maybe sports in general, are up to the beginning of summer vacation. (which I'm guessing is the end of June) So that would make them maybe in the month of May. Plus, I have no idea how many games they're playing so imma let you guys decide how many alright? Though if we go with a game per week or maybe two games per week, and they'd started around the end of April, then we'll be at... 9 games in total I think... I dunno, something like that, well let's get back...)

It was the end of practice and everyone was getting ready to leave the gym. Practice only lasted for maybe two hours maximum after school so it was still pretty early in whatever part of the afternoon they had left; making the time around 5 o'clock. (I'm not sure how school works exactly so imma make it Canadian time frame ^^) They didn't have to lock up the gyms since the janitors were present until late at night.

Kuroko had thought of staying after practice to train a bit more, but never really thought of doing it seriously. Though, he really didn't have anything better to do when he leaves practice and usually, he'd find himself playing in the courts near his house. So, he might as well stay for a while longer. Kuroko knew that others have stayed after hours as well but it was just to play in their own mini games then head out after a few rounds. He didn't think much of joining them since one: they never really notice him, therefore, don't exactly know him and two: he knew he lacked the skills to actually keep up let alone aid his team in a game.

"It might be best if I just go towards the third gym and play by myself." Kuroko mumbled to himself and headed off in that direction. He had taken a ball and his water bottle with him and then immediately started to bounce the ball around a bit. He training on his agility with the ball as well as his ball handling and dribbling.

He loved the feel of the ball in his hands, though he knew that he'd never score a basket with them. He tried to do a layup in practice earlier but he had failed to do so, a few times in a row. Some of the others had tried to show him where to throw the ball exactly on the backboard to assure that it would get in but he couldn't aim it very well. At other times, the ball just went up and then down, another attempt ended up with the ball going over the hoop and another, he had touched the spot that he was told to but that's all it was... a touch on the backboard then it fell.

"I think I need to put more power into the ball." He said to himself and looked at the hoop. He dribbled towards it and then tossed the ball into a layup but it just bounced off from underneath the ring. After a few attempts, he'd had enough for a while and just tossed the ball against the wall for a bit as he thought to himself. Eventually, instead of catching the ball, he got into this steady pace of him tapping the ball with his fingers, passing it towards the wall. Tap, hit, bounce, tap, hit, bounce, tap, hit, bounce... this continued until he had found it suitable to end it there for the day.

Kuroko had gone towards the gym after practice every single day after that. The first day that he'd decided to practice on his own was maybe a few days after the regulars vs. freshmen match and now a month had gone by in an instant. He'd even heard some of his teammates even commenting on some strange things happening in the third gym after hours. He knew that they wouldn't notice him, so he didn't make a big deal out of it, even when they started to make up a few points as well. He just continued on like that by himself until some curious boy had decided to wander inside after hearing said rumors.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(hey so now the time shall be in June... and let's say that Kuroko started practicing on his own in the beginning of May.)

Aomine had recently heard the strange rumors about what happens in the third gym when the day was over. Many people had told him that they'd seen it with their own eyes or have heard strange things when they walk by after practice.

One story was told by a boy who was walking with his friends after they'd finished their mini game after the regular practice. They'd all heard someone dribbling a basketball inside the gym and wondered if it was one of the court players, just playing for fun. They decided to check it out and see if they could join in on their practice when they had found no one inside; just a basketball bouncing on the floor by itself. Another one of his friends had said that they'd even heard the squeaking of the shoes and someone speaking quietly to themselves as well.

They'd gotten so freaked out that they'd reported this to the Kantoku but he reassured them, sternly, that there were never such rumors about the third gym before and warned them that it had better not be one of their pranks. They reassured that it was no joke and asked him to verify but when they checked, the gym looked as though it had never been used with nothing in sight.

Others have eventually witnessed these strange happenings and had eventually been caught onto by Momoi who told Aomine straight away, followed by others.

"I'll figure out what's going on with the third gym." Aomine said firmly to himself, determined to get to the bottom of this. Since he was young, he loved solving these sort of 'mysteries' as he'd called them and wouldn't believe a thing he's heard until he's experienced it with his own body, consciousness and eyes.

The time was now 6 pm and found the gym lights to be all on as he walked past the first. The reason why he had stayed so late today was because he'd been told by his teacher to stay later after school to make up an assignment and was later told by Akashi to make up for his loss of training by running extra laps after practice. He figured that if any day was good enough to verify this, it would be this day.

Now, Aomine had walked past the second gym and had the third plain in his sights. As he neared, he heard the familiar squeaks of basketball shoes and the dribbling of a basketball like the others had said. For some odd reason, the tanned boy was getting a bit excited by this feeling of experience as he walked closer towards the gym entrance. The door had been left open so as to let the air circulation flow throughout the gym and it was also perfect for him to sneak a peek inside.

He placed his hands on the door and took a deep breath before gazing into the gym. He snuck a peek from the side of the entrance and looked around for a bit, seeing only a water bottle on the bench beside a towel and a basketball bouncing its way towards him. He looked around but found no person and felt no presence in the gym. _"I guess the rumors are true."_ Aomine felt a bit scared as he was about to pull away when he heard a voice.

"Ano..." Aomine froze behind the door as he looked for the source of the voice which he had verified to come from inside the third gym. "Would you please pass me that ball?" Aomine took another deep breath and hesitated to look around the door but he then gathered the courage to take a look inside the gym. But when he brought his head out from behind the edge of the door, he found himself staring face to face with a pale skinned, blue haired boy.

"Whaaaa!" Aomine screamed as he fell backwards. "It's the ghost haunting the third gym! Please don't hurt me!" He begged as the boy just looked at him then picked up the ball.

"There's no real ghost in this gym." He said with no noticable expressionin his voice, looking at Aomine with a deadpan expression.

"Huh?" Aomine looked up again and looked at him.

"You took too long so I came over and got the ball myself." He said and turned around to get back to his training. Aomine just looked at the boy curiously as he recognized him little by little until it had it him like a lightning bolt.

"Ah! Kuroko!" Aomine exclaimed while the boy just turned around to face him.

"Hai, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko just looked at him nonchalantly.

"Where have you been lately?" Aomine brightened up as he remembered the boy. "I haven't seen you around as much."

"I'm in your class." Kuroko's expression still hasn't changed though Aomine started to look a little sheepish by this point.

"Ah right..." He then cleared his throat as though he'd hoped that the air would get a little less awkward for him since Kuroko wasn't making it any better. "Well, sorry but with you and whatever's left of your presence, it's difficult to notice you. And I've been really busy with the basketball team... with the whole training and the games. But that doesn't really make it up does it?"

"..." Kuroko didn't say much of anything after that and just continued to dribble the ball.

"Hey, how about I practice with you for a bit? I haven't really seen you play before anyways, Satsuki never really speaks about you much either. But I guess that can't be helped since she was ordered by Akashi to investigate various places called 'enemy's territory'. Well, that's what he called it and says that she's the only one able to accomplish let alone do such a thing."

"Why would you play with me when you're a regular?" Kuroko looked at him in the eyes.

"Well, I don't mind playing with anybody I see, and just playing with the others gets boring anyways." Aomine gave the other a big smile.

"But I'm in the third string."

"I don't care what string you're in and I don't judge people by their positions either. If you love basketball then you can't be all bad right?"

"You talk too much." Kuroko just said and walked away with the ball.

"Hey! So does that mean I can stay?" Aomine ran after the boy as he started to ask about what he was up to lately.

"And don't talk to me like you haven't seen me since your college days." Kuroko just kept on brushing Aomine off until they eventually started to play together little by little.

**Yessss, finished  
****And I had to end it there~  
****Shorter than normal yes but it's there  
****Well, maybe because I did the time skip and didn't want to get ahead of myself  
****But it's here! And please excuse the fact that I may have rushed this a bit  
****And for the fact that the middle time setting may be a little confusing  
****But just so we're clear, we're nearing the end of the tournament and we're in the month of June**

**Yes, kay bye! ^^  
****Owari desu~**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake-  
(I just love doing these... it gets really amusing after a while but it's a short one today, enjoy^^)

"Ano..." Aomine froze as he heard a voice call out to and looked around to find its source. "would you please pass me the ball?" Aomine then realized that the source was inside the gym. He hesitated as he leaned against the door then gathered his courage before looking over towards the other side.

"_It's just your imagination... there's no such things as ghosts, there's no such thing."_ Aomine repeated to himself until he finally peered from around the edge and looked inside.

"Boo~" Kuroko said as he looked at Aomine, carrying a white sheet with two eye holes over his head. He was waving his arms over his head at the same time in order to make the ghost shape. Aomine just sweat dropped when he looked at him. He could imagine the deadpanned expression that Kuroko carried from underneath the sheet as he waved his arms to and fro.

"Tetsu! That's not how it's supposed to go!" Aomine exclaimed towards the boy.

"I'm the ghost that haunts the gym at night." Kuroko said in a monotone fashion.

"Cut it out, that's not funny! And your monotone doesn't make it any more scary!"


	7. Chapter 7: Whatever Makes You Happy

**Hi hi, I'm back  
****And I'm ubberrr sorry for being AWOL the past two weeks  
****I've been having dance practices almost every day for the past weeks  
****It's because me and my group participate in a festival show (procrastination sucks! =.=)  
****Also, before I go on with my whole ramble session,  
****I wanted to mention this one thing in response to your wonderful reviews ^^**

**I'm suuupppperrrr glad that you guys really like my omakes haha  
****I wasn't really sure if they were funny or not  
****And I only wrote them because I got bored at the end of the chapter  
****That and I really liked the "Take One" that the manga does hehe**

**I guess in the end, I did end up rambling haha  
****But that's the end of that  
****We Start!~**

**Disclaimer: Rights belong to the real author of the manga series, Fujimaki Tadatoshi-san… daisuki daaaa~~~**

* * *

Chapter 7: Whatever Makes You Happy

The day after Aomine had spent time with Kuroko after a long while, he immediately entered his classroom and turned to look for the other to see if he was already there. "Ahh, Kuroko, ohayo." Aomine said to the other.

"Ohayo, Aomine-kun." Kuroko said with a deadpanned expression, inwardly, he was surprised that the other had started speaking with him again.

"So are you going to practice again today?" Aomine asked excitedly. It had been only one practice with the other but Aomine had had a blast last night, despite him winning every game he challenged.

"I've been doing so for the last month now." The other said much to Aomine's discomfort.

"Right... hehe, I'm still sorry about that." Aomine smiled awkwardly until Momoi had made her way towards her desk.

"Ohayo, Aomine-kun, Kuroko-kun." She greeted the pair much to Aomine's surprise.

"How'd Satsuki see you right away? She used to scream when you popped out of nowhere." Aomine was definitely confused with this scene.

"I speak to Kuroko-kun every day. You just don't notice because you sleep in class the moment you sit in your desk." She accused and pouted since the other thought that she'd be as mean as to forget the boy who sat behind her.

"It's alright Momoi-san, it isn't Aomine-kun's fault for being sleepy every day. After all, Akashi-kun's training sessions seem to be pretty hard even for the first stringer third years." Kuroko defended the other.

"It still isn't a good excuse for him to suddenly stop all communication with you. I've been meaning to talk with him about this." Momoi pouted as she looked at her childhood friend.

"Don't worry about it, Satsuki. I talked it over with Kuroko yesterday and we're cool again, aren't we?" Aomine looked hopefully at said boy but he suddenly disappeared from his seat. "W-where'd he go?"

"He left while you were talking and went over towards the teacher's desk to hand something in." Momoi pointed towards the now startled teacher. Poor guy couldn't seem to get used to his invisible student even after a month or two.

"Whaa- he just left while I was talking?" Aomine sweatdropped and looked at the boy as though he were going to cry. (comically I may add)

"You deserve that much." Momoi huffed and turned herself forwards.

"Well, it's your fault too." Aomine accused, bring said girl's attention back towards him.

"How so?" she looked at him with a high and mighty sort of snobby attitude as she gave him an indifferent glare.

"Why'd you forget to confront me about Kuroko?! Even after a month or two, that's taking it a bit too far to say it was my fault when you yourself forgot to talk about it." Aomine half yelled.

"Why'd you forget in the first place?" She accused back. "It's not like you only met him once then he suddenly moved out of the country!"

"You know me, I don't remember people even after a few days!" He defended. The bickering didn't cease and everyone in the class started to stare at the noisy pair. They didn't stop until Kuroko came between them and stopped them.

"You're disrupting others." He said simply as he returned to his seat.

"Sou da ne, Kuroko-kun? Gomen." Momoi returned to her sweet, cheery self, not looking at the other boy.

"Che." Aomine rolled his eyes at her. "Well anyways, we're alright now ne, Kuroko?" Aomine decided to ask again.

"Maa." Kuroko said simply and started to organize his desk. Eventually, Aomine started to nod off once again and the day had just flown by as usual with Momoi trying to keep him focused on the teacher's lessons. Practice eventually came around, he got dressed and seemed to be almost ready for anything... almost. Akashi had come out and they started their regular drills of passing and shooting but he didn't seem to be very focused on this which was a first for him since most of his life revolved around the sport.

"A...ne...omi..e...Aomi...e...AOMINEEE!" a loud yell finally reached his ears as he was snapped back towards the practice session. He looked around and found Midorima with an extremely pissed off expression as he gripped the ball in his hands. He looked as though he were ready to throw the ball straight into his face, not caring of the consequences.

"Ahh, sorry Midorima!" Aomine gave a sheepish smile and scratched the back of his head.

"Daiki." A chill ran up his back as he looked at his red haired captain. The boy's voice was cool but he could feel the malice in each syllable.

"Eh, Akashi?" Aomine couldn't hide his fear.

"Focus." Akashi just stared at Aomine before he walked towards another terrified player.

"Hai." He called back and motioned towards Midorima to start the drill. However, Aomine's lack of focus didn't stop there as the practice continued from the bounce pass drill to the weaving three-man pass shoot drill. Aomine moved along catching and passing the ball unconsciously and ran towards his next receiving position but when he ended being the one to make the layup shot, he accidentally passed it into the wall, thinking that they were still in the middle of the drill. This didn't go unnoticed by Akashi of course, being the perceptive perfectionist he was.

"Maa~ Mine-chin isn't being Mine-chin today." Murasakibara commented first on the situation. The tanned boy just averted his gaze to some corner of the gym.

"Whatsa matter, Aomine? Girlfriend ignoring you?" Haizaki smirked at him as he took a look at Momoi who just glared back towards him.

"There's nothing wrong." Aomine defended himself.

"Oha-sa predicted that Virgos will be having difficulty this week, struggling with something once left behind." Midorima pushed his glasses up. "Lucky Item is a stuffed frog."

"I couldn't care less about that!" Aomine seemed to be getting annoyed now.

"There's no need to vent out your frustration on Shintarou." Akashi interrupted. "However if you are unfocused in the midst practice then you should go out for a bit and clear your head." Akashi suggested and commanded everyone to continue with practice. Aomine was slightly taken aback by Akashi's 'suggestion' as he put it since he expected to have been told err... threatened to stay focused and then get punished for his lack of enthusiasm.

Aomine decided not to ponder on how his captain's mind worked and decided to step out. He wasn't frustrated about anything really but the thing was that he couldn't help but be excited for when practice ended since it meant that he'd be able to start practicing with Kuroko again. He didn't really know what it was about the boy that he liked but he just somehow clicked easy with him, not that he'd have noticed it earlier in the year either.

Aomine eventually found himself outside the third gym where the lesser half of the second stringers and Kuroko were practicing under the instruction of the previous captain, Kaibara. The tanned boy just stood by the door and listened in on the third year's instructions though his voice was getting drowned out by the construction that was happening next door. It appears as though Akashi had persuaded the Kantoku to confront the principal about the addition of a fourth gym. At first, Mori-kantoku was turned down but with the reassurance of Akashi after the incident, it was approved in less than 24 hours.

He wasn't sure how Akashi had gotten the approval but Aomine didn't want to find out through a demonstration of some sort. Although, he knew that Akashi was called down to the principal's office the next day and it was before they'd gotten the approval so he had to have had something to do with it indefinitely.

The regulars were all told by Akashi that after the construction of the fourth gym, the first gym would be theirs, the second gym belonging to the first stringers and benchwarmers while the rest split the third and fourth. However, this would usually only happen when they were in need of their own gym for games. When it comes to regular practices, then those on the bench would join their practice as well. Of course, all this had happened the week before so the building hadn't started yet and the workers were just bringing in the materials. They predicted to have been finished maybe by the tournaments end, meaning the end of the month.

"I wonder if it'll all be alright." Aomine sighed as he thought of the poor principal who unknowingly defied Akashi.

"Alright, everyone gets a 5 minute break!" Kaibara announced as they all agreed and walked over towards the walls of the gym, taking out their water bottles and towels.

"Aomine-kun, what are you doing here?" a voice called to him from inside the gym. He looked and saw the ex-captain looking at him.

"Oh, Akashi said that I should clear my head by taking a walk and I ended up here." He explained.

"Ah, is that so, well you're free to hang around here until you feel better." He said and walked off towards a few first years that were asking for a few pointers.

"It's a surprise to see you away from practice." Kuroko suddenly appeared behind him.

"Wha, Kuroko." Aomine whipped around and looked at the smaller boy. "Yeah well, I wasn't focusing much today."

"That's no good, you need to focus or else Momoi-san and Akashi-kun will both have your head. You do have a game tomorrow." He reminded him.

"It'll all turn out fine. I'll practice more with you later." He said with a large grin on his face.

"You weren't listening to Momoi-san earlier at all, were you?" He said accusingly in a monotone fashion.

"Hmm? What about Satsuki?" Aomine looked clueless.

"She asked you to accompany her to the shopping district today." Kuroko said, dribbling the ball in his hands. "She even promised to get you something for helping her out too."

"Did I really promise her that?" Aomine seemed to be thinking pretty hard.

"Even if you did it unconsciously to get her off your back, you promised that you'd go." Kuroko explained. "You did seem very sleepy so she might've taken advantage of you."

"Kono, Satsuki!" Aomine glared at his clenching fist and shook with anger. He eventually calmed himself down. "Sorry I'll have to leave you alone again, Kuroko but if I have time, I'll show up later." Aomine promised.

"Okay." Kuroko said before the whistle blew, signally the end of his break. "You should head back to your own practice, Aomine-kun. It's good to play lightly before a game." The pale boy then left. Now Aomine felt a little more inspired to practice again and ran back towards the gym. He continued on with practice but not before asking Momoi how long her errand was going to be. She answered that they'd maybe take a half hour at most and after they were finished, then he'd be free to go wherever he'd like.

With that said and done, the dark haired boy practiced with all his heart and was looking forward to later on once again.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Momoi had taken Aomine to the market down the road to grab a few groceries. She said that her mom was making something and wanted these specific ingredients. Eventually, Aomine discovered that the reason why the pink haired girl had asked the boy to come out with her was so that he could carry the bags as they went along. Aomine couldn't believe that he was stringed along into coming for such a stupid reason... stupid in his eyes anyways. He just couldn't figure out why girls couldn't do the work themselves and had to rely on boys though he didn't complain out loud for he would just get scolded later for it.

"Are you almost done, Satsuki?" Aomine was seriously getting fed up with this.

"Yes. Arigato Aomine-kun. I wouldn't have been able to move around as quickly if it weren't for you but I'll take it from here." She said getting her bags back. "And be sure to rest easy for the game tomorrow~!" She smiled sweetly before walking off.

"That girl, telling me to rest easy after making me lug her things around for her. And she lied about it only being a half hour!" Aomine rubbed his aching muscles and then remembered to meet up with Kuroko at the gym. He looked at the time but then found that it had been over an hour since he'd been out with Satsuki. He figured that by the time he ran back to school, Kuroko would've been finished.

"I guess I should just head home then." Aomine didn't seem very satisfied with leaving the poor boy to practice on his own yet again but he had no choice since Momoi wouldn't let him slip away, let alone leave her stuff unattended.

The tanned boy walked down the neighbourhood and saw that the sunlight had died down as evening crept its way in. The street lights turned on and illuminated the streets and sidewalks. Even with the day's many disappointments, he figured that this nightly walk wasn't all bad. Eventually, as he neared a familiar park, he heard the sound of a basketball bouncing. _"I wonder who'd be playing at this hour?_" He thought to himself as he looked at his cell phone. It was around 8 and was pretty dark outside now but his curiosity got the best of him and he walked over towards the courts.

He looked around to find a glimpse of some short kid playing by himself but he didn't look as good as he'd expected. Regardless, he decided to walk over and tell the kid to go home. This would possibly be one of his good deeds for the day since he didn't count Momoi forcing him to shop with her.

"Hey kid, it's pretty late, don't you think you should be heading home?" Aomine called out but as he got closer, he realized that he recognized this kid. "Kuroko? What are you doing here?" He was surprised to have run into the boy here of all places.

"I come here sometimes to play by myself." Kuroko answered simply, not minding that Aomine had coincidentally found him.

"But wouldn't you usually be at the gym?" Aomine couldn't get over this feeling of shock and happiness.

"I was there earlier but the construction workers told me that I should leave early so as to not be in their way. Especially with my little presence, they definitely might drop a steel bar on my head."

"That's not something that you should joke around about." The tanned boy scolded.

"When I can't practice at the gym, then I come here instead. It's closer to my house anyways and nobody shows up at this hour either." Kuroko said as he lined up to take a shot.

"Still the worst aim as ever I see." Aomine couldn't help but smile. "But I still can't believe you live around my area too. I just live down the block."

"That's nice." Kuroko said retrieving the ball and then passing it towards Aomine. He dribbled for a bit before going for the shot. "So what brings you to this court tonight, Aomine-kun?"

"Well, I heard you dribbling the ball and just came by to check out who'd be playing here so late."

"So you followed the sound of a basketball just like a dog to a dog whistle." Kuroko half joked.

"Do not!" Aomine was sick of people making fun of him today. "I was just worried that some little kid was playing by himself and was going to tell him to go home before it got too late."

"I wouldn't have expected you to come to a kid's rescue, Aomine-kun." Kuroko smiled a bit as he passed the ball again.

"Yeah well, it would've been my good deed for the day." He said truthfully.

"Then I'm sorry for ruining your good deed." The other said playfully.

"Meh, it wasn't that important." Aomine shot again. "So why don't you come to the game tomorrow?" Aomine suddenly changed the subject.

"Why ask all of a sudden?" Kuroko wondered.

"Well, if you watched a game, then you can learn and improve yourself."

"I guess that's true." Kuroko said. "And it will be an interesting game, you'll be playing the ones that had beaten out Kaibara-san and the others last year."

"They'd better be strong, it's more fun that way, you know?" The dark haired boy couldn't help but feel a little giddy at that thought. "So you're coming right?" He asked to reassure the other's answer. Kuroko gave a small nod. Just then, another thought ran through Aomine's mind. The air around them suddenly got very quiet except for the sound of the bouncing ball.

.

.

.

.

"Ne Kuroko..." Aomine broke the silence after a few minutes.

"What is it, Aomine-kun?" Kuroko looked at him, waiting to hear what he had to say. Aomine seemed to be having trouble getting the words out but the light haired boy just waited patiently. It's not like he was in a rush or anything.

"Would you mind if we were on a first name basis?" Aomine turned around and tried to give his usual sheepish smile but Kuroko knew that it was a little off.

"Why all of a sudden?" Kuroko seemed indifferent about the idea.

"Well, calling you Kuroko just like everyone else doesn't fit fine with me since it feels like I've known you longer than I actually do. I actually can't really explain it very well but even after speaking with you after soo long, I feel like we've been doing so for years. So would it be fine with you?" Aomine looked at the other. It took a while before Kuroko had answered him; almost as long as it took him to ask the question.

"_Why is this killing me so much? It feels like I just proposed to some girl!" _Aomine felt like he was breaking from the suspense. Then Kuroko seemed to have finished processing the information and felt like he could give a well thought out answer.

"Whatever makes you feel comfortable, Aomine-kun." Aomine was somewhat dissatisfied with the answer. On one hand, he was glad that he got the answer he wanted but on the other, he wished that he had gotten a better sounding response as opposed to his 'whatever makes you feel comfortable' response.

"So that's all your thinking process came up with as an answer?" Aomine just had to comment on this.

"Ahh." He responded simply.

Aomine sighed before answering back. "Oh well, it's better than a no right? Okay, from now on, I'll call you Tetsu, is that fine? Or would you prefer your whole name?" Aomine couldn't hold back his happiness once again.

"The first is fine with me but I will still be referring to you as Aomine-kun." He said and walked over to retrieve his bag. Aomine did the same.

"Why? You don't want to call me by my first name?" He seemed to be slightly offended. "Do you not like it or something? So you aren't fine being on a first name basis after all, aren't you?" the taller boy cried out.

"Aomine-kun, you sound like a little girl whining about unnecessary things." Kuroko said straightly.

"This isn't unnecessary." He argued. "And I'm not whining but seriously, why are you so polite with the names, Tetsu?" Aomine tested out his newly formed nickname.

"I feel it important to respect ones name and only use a given name when appropriate." He answered.

"You're the complete opposite of Akashi, you know that?"

"I had a feeling when I had first met him on the second day of school."

"Well, Tetsu is Tetsu, and Tetsu promised to come to the game tomorrow so you have to keep your word, Tetsu." Aomine said with glee.

"You're already wearing out the name, Aomine-kun." Kuroko was getting a bit annoyed as the pair walked home together.

"Maa~ just getting you used to your new name, Tetsu." Aomine took the opportunity to use it again.

"You make it sound like you're naming a new dog that you've just bought."

"Fine I'll stop but with this, you should already know who's talking to you when you hear the name, alright?" (haha that just makes him sound possessive... -.-' lol)

"Whatever makes you happy, Aomine-kun." Kuroko just let another smile slip past his mouth as they walked down the street together.

**Yay done!  
****Hope you guys enjoyed it  
****Not really sure what I'm going to do with the next chapter  
****So I'll ask you guys what you want to happen**

**Do you want the game shortly and then on to a bonding session  
****Or~  
****Would you want an immediate time skip to the end of the month?**

**You guys make the call  
****Thanks for reading ^^  
****Owari desu~**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake-

"Ao...e..Aom...mine... Aho...ne... AHOMINE!" Aomine felt a vein pop when he heard the name.

"Where'd that come from?" He didn't sound very content with the demeaning nickname. Though he didn't get a response as he suddenly dodge a basketball aimed at his face. "Midorima, you were serious when you said you wanted to throw this ball in my face?!" He exclaimed as a few more balls came his way.

"We are merely playing dodgeball, Aomine." He said as he lined up his aim again.

"Mine-chin is good, I can't get a good hit on him." Murasakibara sighed. Haizaki just looked like he was having the time of his life. Aomine looked towards Akashi for help with his teammates but the boy just turned around, pretending not to see anything.

"Akashi!" Aomine really wasn't liking this game.

"Consider this punishment for not focusing." Akashi grinned. Although he didn't see his expression, Aomine knew that he had a sadistic expression on his face as he laughed silently to himself.


	8. Chapter 8: There's No Problem, Right?

**Chiiwasu minna-san!  
****I just reread this and realized that I forgot an important factor for this story  
****So you should just read it again and find it haha  
****Sorry about that  
****And I slightly changed the scene a bit so that it would fit in the story  
****Hope you enjoy  
****And sorry for the inconvenience… =.='**

**Aaaaaand you know what else? I completely forgot the warning!  
****I'm supperrrrr sorry to those that didn't read the manga and didn't warn you in advance  
****Especially for the spoilers! -.-' Now I feel evil (TT A TT)  
****Hope you'll forgive me people on the interspace!  
****Saa~ we start!**

**Disclaimer: no ownage for me on this story, just my basic ideas on filling in the blanks of the past in which they won't tell us a thing (and by 'they' I mean the GoM gang… buncha meanies)**

**Ps: I just added the construction of the fourth gym on a whim since I forgot whether or not there were actually four gyms but oh well… I have to change the story a bit now shall i?**

**Ahh~ and for people who decided to skip out on the manga, you should get on that cuz it's really interesting to read! Support the author~ (free public advertisement… no money made for me here :P)**

**I really do talk too much -.-'  
**But I have to say this in response to x Chaos RebornX:  
Yes I'm sure that there's no yaoi… if you refer to the GoM Stories that I have, I made a KisexKuro fic but that's as far as I can do with yaoi… it kills me inside when I write it . it's too much for my brain to write. I can read it but I literally am dying when I write it that my hands go numb… but if you squint, you'll probably find accidental hints lol and fluffiness but no upfrontness on couples…

**Phew, that was a really long A/N  
****Saa~ We Start (for reals)**

* * *

Chapter 8: There's No Problem, Right?

The following day had come and the basketball team was allowed to be dismissed from classes early due to the game that they had scheduled right after school. Kuroko had been told by Aomine to drop by as soon as he could and then he had promised to take him out to eat later on. Kuroko didn't mind being told what to do but he didn't really rush either. If it was anything like their previous game record, then he knew for sure that they'd win. Even if they were up against the ones that had beaten their sempai, he knew that Akashi wouldn't kneel over and let them do as they wanted.

The game had started right after school had ended so by the time Kuroko had reached the opposing school's courts, they were already nearing the end of the third quarter. Kuroko took a look at both teams and observed them for a bit.

"The other team seems to be sweating a lot." Kuroko mumbled to himself as he looked at the scoreboard. _"I guess that explains it." _The boy thought as he saw that the score was 48 to 88; not even doubling their score though was in favor of Teiko-chuu. Kuroko was a bit surprised by this.

With Akashi's past records, they'd at least have managed to double their opponents score by the third period but as he examined his team's state, he found Aomine perspiring slightly as well as the others. Of course the other team wasn't any better than them and some even looked like they were ready to pass out or give up. This, he believed was probably due to Haizaki's ability to steal ones move and make it as his own. That on top of Midorima's heart shattering, yet still in development, three pointers, Murasakibara's incredible height, Aomine's incredible gaming style and Akashi's intimidation and reaction factors.

"_I guess they're better than the average middle school team,"_ Kuroko thought as the buzzer blew, signalling the end of the third quarter._ "but it isn't like Akashi-kun to be below his own standards, nor to underestimate an opponent... to some extent." _He continued to think out these possibilities but then thought it useless to get into the mind of the sadistic redheaded captain.

"Maybe he's just showing pity for once." Kuroko concluded as the game then continued on to the finish. They eventually did double the score much to the others' displeasure but it couldn't be helped. After all, what Akashi wants, he gets.

Both teams had bowed and thanked each other for the game and then retreated towards the locker rooms. Aomine had gotten dressed and then said his goodbyes to the team almost immediately. Momoi wondered where he was going all of a sudden when he emerged from the room but he just said that he had to run. Akashi had let him go without so much as a word but he seemed genuinely interested as well though he hadn't questioned in the slightest.

"I wonder where Tetsu could have gotten to." Aomine wondered out loud as he exited the building. "I know I saw him on the balcony... surprisingly." Aomine thought sheepishly as he then bumped into the one person he was looking for.

"Ah, Kuroko, sorry." The taller boy said upon his realization.

"You should watch where you're going, Aomine-kun." Kuroko rubbed his head as he looked up at the boy.

"Yeah, still working on that." The tanned boy said. "So where do you wanna go now Kuroko?"

"You said that we would eat somewhere." Kuroko reminded.

"Ah, I did say that didn't I, huh?" He then looked around as they walked down the street, away from the school. They eventually made it to the busy street and they found a burger joint known for being one of the most popular in the area. "Maji Burger huh? I've never really come here but I heard it was pretty good." Aomine commented.

(A/N: I just wanted to say that I wasn't sure if their burger joint was local or if it were a franchise or something (I know it could be a spin on this mcdonalds thing) but for me, I decided to make it a local place. Just makes it more special, don't you agree? ^^ ps: if there's anything that you know about it, please share and then I may make the changes, thanks!)

"Yeah, I used to come here with my older brother and he'd always get me one of their milkshakes." Kuroko said.

"Then we should go in and try one." Aomine then led them inside. He then bought them a meal each along with a milkshake; vanilla for Kuroko while he got chocolate. "You take the first bite." The dark haired boy urged. The other just nodded and did so; he then gave a faint smile and said that it was good. Aomine then followed and declared it to be the best burger he'd ever eaten.

"How's your milkshake?" Aomine asked as he took a sip out of his.

"Oishi, it's just as I remember it. It must have been a few years since I'd come here with my family." Aomine wanted to question why he hadn't come here after so long, as he claimed, but didn't want to pry anything out of the boy. He figured that it was either they were too busy or they didn't live in the area after some time and it was too out of the way. Either way, he was satisfied with the conclusion.

"That settles it, let's come here from now on." Aomine said. "Since you really like the milkshake and the burgers are awesome, then let's just make this our normal place. That way, when we want to go and get something to eat or can't decide on where to go, we'll just come here. It's not so far from school anyways and is located very conveniently." The dark haired boy seemed to be justifying his choice.

Kuroko just looked at the other, slightly amused. "Aomine-kun seems to be much smarter than everyone thinks he is." He teased much to the other's displeasure. "But, it is a good idea." Aomine then regained his smile after that. "Though, it's funny that you'd declare something like that after only taking one bite out of a normal burger and one sip from the shake." He teased again.

Aomine just pouted off to the side and grumbled that he was sorry for liking something after one bite. The teal haired boy just sighed inwardly with his faint smile still present and continued to eat his own burger. He had to admit though, it was a good meal and reasonably priced for middle school kids to afford. He figured that it wouldn't be so bad to have this place as their own regular place to hang out at occasionally. And he did, in fact, adore the milkshakes and was grateful towards Aomine for helping him find it again.

Afterwards, when they'd finished their meals, they decided to walk it off for a bit; however, neither knew where they wanted to go, so they let their feet lead the way. Eventually, Kuroko was then reminded of a question that he'd wanted to ask not so long ago but for some reason, always forgot to ask when his chance came.

"Ano... Aomine-kun..." Kuroko got the attention of the other. "I was just wondering, I know the reason why you started to practice with me by saying that you felt bad for suddenly forgetting about me and that you wanted to play with someone new, but why would you go as far as to hang out with me as well?" Kuroko didn't really understand.

Aomine on the other hand, in fact, didn't understand either. He considered the boy as his friend so he thought, did he really need a reason to wanting to hang out for a while? After his surprise, he voiced this statement. "Also," Aomine decided to add. "I may have started practicing with you because of those reasons but they aren't the reasons why I chose to stay and to continue practicing with you. I found you interesting and fun to be with is all." He gave a heartwarming smile.

"Ah, soka." Kuroko said as they continued to walk. Aomine then felt that something seemed to be a little off with the boy today.

"Yo, Tetsu," Kuroko looked back towards the tanned boy. "is something the matter? You don't seem like your usual self." Kuroko looked like he didn't want to answer but when he took a glimpse at the other's expression, he couldn't help but say what was on his mind.

"I think... I'm going to quit the basketball club." He frowned and averted his eyes from the other's. Aomine couldn't quite grasp on to what he'd just heard and for a moment, he thought his ears were lying to him. However, the boy's actions and proved his thoughts otherwise. Aomine just stopped walking for a minute and tried to collect his thoughts on the matter.

"W-why would you quit all of a sudden?" Aomine didn't understand at all. Kuroko seemed to hesitate before trying to come up with an answer. "Does this have something to do about you asking why I hang out with you? Do you not like me hanging around after all?" Aomine was starting to feel slightly defensive about the topic.

"No not at all, it's just that..." Kuroko paused again, building the suspense in Aomine. "I failed to pass the test to move up to 2nd string once again. So I feel it pointless to continue on like this." Kuroko confessed.

Aomine looked at the other angrily yet at the same time, sympathetically. Of course he didn't share his feelings for he's never once thought of quitting before. So in this time, he wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to say to the other boy. "Well..." Aomine started, not really sure where he was going to go with this. "I don't think you should quit at all. If that's all that's getting you bummed out then I should be bummed out about way more things than you, since I have more problems other than basketball like studying and Satsuki." Kuroko had to chuckle at that fact. Aomine did complain about those two things a lot.

"You're also one of the few people that I feel respect for. I've never really told that to anyone before either. The way you always try your best to improve yourself every day and that determination that you have, it just makes me feel so... excited!" Aomine couldn't hold in his enthusiasm.

"So please don't quit Tetsu. If you're doing something that you love, then there's no problem right?" Kuroko felt sort of awestruck for a moment. He then smiled at Aomine which made him sort of surprised.

"You're a very simple person, Aomine-kun." Kuroko commented.

"Haaa?! What's that supposed to mean!" Aomine felt ticked off by the comment.

"Nande mo nai..." (nothing) Kuroko shrugged teasingly and continued on the walk.

"Right..." the dark haired boy said skeptically. "at least, you'll be staying in the club then, right?"

"Ah. Arigato Aomine-kun." The shorter boy thanked.

"No, I didn't do anything really." Aomine scratched the back of his neck and waited for the other to say something to fill the awkward silence. However, Kuroko just continued to walk in the silence.

.

.

.

Aomine wasn't liking the sudden pause on the conversation. Usually, even if he was with a complete stranger, he would usually find something to talk about even after a few good hours of talking already but that wasn't the case with Kuroko. With him, it was just harder to get things out for some reason; it was like his mind suddenly went blank... sort of like it did in school... occasionally. (Yeah, he's lying to himself lol)

Though with the topic that they just got through, he understood why the conversation didn't continue on. If it was him, he wouldn't want to continue on a topic about his own insecurities. Just then, a sudden topic popped into his mind.

"Ahh!" He said upon his realization. Kuroko just sent him an odd look which then made Aomine sweat drop when he also realized that he made his outburst out loud. He cleared his throat before starting.

"So, how's your practice going with Kaibara?"

"Why would you ask all of a sudden?" Kuroko questioned, slightly raising an eyebrow.

"Just trying to make conversation." Aomine admitted sheepishly.

"Well, it's going fine." He answered finally.

"That's great to hear, but hopefully you're improving yourself too though." Aomine playfully answered.

"Why would you care so much for my improvement?" Kuroko really had no idea where the tanned boy was going with this conversation but just played along with it. Aomine didn't even know what he'd hoped to achieve by going on said topic other than trying to carry on the chat but as they moved on, he then started to somehow speak unconsciously and was unaware of what words came out of his mouth.

"Well, you know Tetsu, I want to someday play on the same court as you." Aomine just smiled. Kuroko was then left a bit speechless, not that Aomine would have really noticed. The smaller boy had to recover a bit before he could come up with a response to the statement.

"You're odd, Aomine-kun." Kuroko just said simply.

"And how's that?" the dark haired boy frowned at being called odd by an even odder invisible man. Aomine wasn't liking how Kuroko kept on labelling him as simple, odd or whatever else he'd said before.

"Because there are way better people that should be suited to playing alongside you than me. Besides, that's something that I should be saying to you." Kuroko corrected.

"But like I said before, you're more fun to be with." The air then sort of became a bit more awkward, if it was possible, for the pair as they stopped at an intersection, waiting for the light to change.

"Well, then that's nice of you to say so, Aomine-kun." Kuroko, at that point, halted the conversation again.

.

.

.

As the silence was getting to Aomine, he immediately tried to continue the talking again with another random question. "S-So, how bout the others that you, you know, practice with? Are they getting any better too?" Aomine actually didn't really care much but he figured that it was better than the silence that they were once in.

"Aomine-kun really likes to be challenged doesn't he?" Kuroko teased while Aomine just scratched the back of his head with embarrassment. "They're fine as well but most of them are still beginners." Kuroko said as he remembered the times in practice alongside them.

"I bet they're still better than you." Aomine joked with a smile and nudge.

"Yes, they are and they can shoot without having to do a probability of shots that they can get in in a number of tries." Kuroko had taken the joke literally and made Aomine feel slightly guilty about the previous comment.

"You know, I didn't mean it like that." Aomine frowned once again and looked at the other with an apologetic yet confused expression.

"I know but it is the truth so you aren't in the wrong." Kuroko tried to reassure him.

"You should really joke around a bit more. I don't like how you always have on the straight face that you always carry. If you changed it up a bit, then I bet more people would know that you're actually an awesome guy and would notice you more."

"But I'm fine with not having much attention drawn to myself." The smaller boy said almost to himself.

"Now you're just being silly, everyone should've noticed you at least once, even without your help." Aomine argued.

"That's only when I want them to acknowledge my presence." He argued back. "But instead of worrying about others, you should worry about your own academics at school."

"What does that have anything to do with the topic?" The pair eventually couldn't stop talking with each other and eventually, their feet had naturally led them all the way back towards their neighbourhood without either of them realizing.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Days have passed and seemed to be going by in a breeze. During this time, Aomine and Kuroko eventually started to get closer and closer with each passing day and Momoi slowly started to join in as well. She had gotten used to the company that Kuroko had provided and he had somehow even made Aomine more tolerant and controllable for her as well; for that, she was quite thankful towards the boy. Kuroko even put the thought of quitting at the back of his mind during this time as well. Aomine was happy that the boy had returned to his normal, blunt self but he wasn't very happy about the words Kuroko uses to describe him at times.

Half of the month had then gone by and Kuroko watched their last game, the semifinals, for the interhigh league. Though, as they continued to play, he suddenly realized something: there was somewhat very little teamwork between the court members. Sure Akashi had done his regular passes by bypassing the opposing players easily then tossing towards one of the others, but afterwards, it was pretty much a solo deal for each player, depending their talent and the situation that they're in.

Once one of them has the ball, the others seem to back away slightly, defending against their own check while the person with the ball deals with a one on one situation. He wanted to help them develop some sort of sense of teamwork with each other or at least a minimal sort of cooperation amongst them but with him at his current level, he couldn't even keep up with them let alone change them. Therefore, he just settled with helping Aomine realize this lack of teamwork that he had developed over the course of these past few months. However, it was harder than he'd realized since it was just the two of them practicing alone without much room for any cooperation or teamwork of any kind, other than basic drills.

"Aomine-kun."

"Hmm, what is it, Tetsu?" Aomine asked, still bouncing the ball.

"Have you ever realized that the team might be lacking something?" He asked discreetly.

"Lacking? If Akashi thought we were lacking then I'd be dying right now."

"Are you sure he hasn't noticed something? Though from his point of view along with his expectations on top of that, it would be understandable if he is unable to fully realize." Kuroko said as he implied that Akashi, himself, was lacking in observation skills.

"Tetsu, you can't just say that Akashi is lacking in... well, anything! If you do, then you can just say goodbye to your life while wishing that you'd never opened your mouth in the first place." Aomine shivered at the thought.

"And who exactly is, as you say, lacking, Daiki?" a voice asked from the gym entrance way. The same voice that made people's skin crawl and run a shiver down your spine. Aomine just froze in place upon hearing his first name being called by a familiar voice.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Practice for all first stringers and regulars had just ended and everyone was given permission to head towards the locker room showers. A certain red haired captain gazed around the gym as his eyes scanned each person in order to find who he was looking for.

"Who's Aka-chin looking for?" Murasakibara crept behind him and asked.

"I'm looking for Daiki, Atsushi, if you must know."

"Ahh~ Mine-chin just ran out of the gym once practice was officially announced as over."

"It seems that he's made a commitment to another without telling anyone. Even Momoi wondered about his quick disappearance." Midorima added.

"Well then, shall you two keep me company as we go find Daiki and later question him?" Akashi looked at the pair who had exchanged glances before looking into the shorter boy's eyes. They didn't mind looking for Aomine and on top of it, watch him get questioned by their scary captain; however, it wasn't like they could deny any suggestion offered by said captain either, so they really had no choice but to go along.

"Ja, do you have any idea where Mine-chin could be?" Murasakibara threw his question out in the open, not really directing it towards anyone.

"Well, with the time between when he left and when we realized that he was gone wasn't so long ago. So he couldn't have gotten far either. On top of this, he didn't bother to change out of his practice gear, which is highly suspicious." Midorima announced his observations from the previous events.

"You're right, Shintarou, and if you're information is correct, then assuming that he hasn't gone as far as we'd think he's gone." Akashi started to develop a few different theories in his mind.

"I don't get it..." Murasakibara just rubbed his chin.

"You will when we get there." Akashi smiled. "And this gives me the perfect opportunity to check out something that's been nagging the back of my mind for a long while now." The redhead refrained from chuckling out loud as he was excited to see what he had been hoping to see since the beginning of the school year.

**Haha, I finished on time didn't I?  
****And just wanted to say Happy Birthday to my cousin!  
****I made it on time, yay  
****And I just read the latest chapter  
****I don't want to give any spoilers but it was awesome!  
****Totally blewww myy miiiind!  
****Yup, that's it  
****Thanks for reading ^^**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I found something to make an omake about haha  
So here it is!

-Omake-

"You should really joke around a bit more." Aomine said to the other as he looked straight into the dead panned face. "I don't like how you always have on the straight face that you always carry. If you changed it up a bit, then I bet more people would know that you're actually an awesome guy and would notice you more." Aomine said matter of factly as he shut his eyes, crossed his arms and nodded his head as though he knew that he was right.

Aomine then looked back towards Kuroko and his left eye started to twitch when he made eye contact. In front of him, Kuroko had seemed to put on a blue faced, demon mask. "With this on, people will definitely notice me more." Kuroko muffled behind the mask.

"Tetsu..." Aomine felt a vein throb in his forehead as he could hear Kuroko breathing from behind the mask, sounding like Darth Vader a bit. The tanned boy then noticed a large sack behind the blue haired boy which was filled with other masks. "That's not what I meant when I said to change it up a bit! And get a better sense of humor!"

**Haha, another little short on Kuroko and Aomine  
****Hope you liked that!  
****See ya next time  
****And sorry for being awol  
****I've been real busy lately with school and whatnot  
****But I'm trying to write the story chapters for most of my pending ones  
****Look forward to that!  
****Owari desu~**


	9. Chapter 9: For When We Conquer

**Chiiwasu minna!  
****Uggghhhh….  
****I feel so dead right now T-T  
****My schedule's been pretty messed up lately  
****Especially when school is factored into it all  
****But I'm back none the less and will try to update weekly  
****Depends on my spark of ideas and inspiration haha**

**Well I'm sure you wanna start reading  
****Sooo, We Start**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke… yeah this is how tired I am**

* * *

Chapter 9: For When We Conquer

The trio from the regular court players had exited the gym and had gone in the direction towards the construction zone. They'd recently brought all the materials needed to start construction and have started on the base of the frame. "I think they're moving at a good pace." Akashi grinned as he looked around the sight to see the workers all focusing on blueprints and what not.

"Ahh..." Murasakibara showed little interest in the work. A sound then reached the tall boy's ears and he looked towards the third gym. "Someone's playing." He stated and opened a chip bag.

"It's after practice... I'm sure that there are a few members that stay a little later though I'm not sure whether they're from first or second string." Midorima informed.

"Well, shall we head over and see who it is?" Akashi grinned scarily and trailed over with the two boys following close behind. The three then took a look through the door and found Aomine speaking with another, though they didn't really catch a glimpse of anyone else. The only thing that spark in the conversation were the words 'Akashi' and 'lacking'. Akashi just narrowed his eyes and walked in on the pair.

"And who exactly is, as you say, lacking, Daiki?" The redhead saw the tanned boy visibly shiver and slowly turned around to face the trio in the doorway.

"A-A-Aka...shi." Aomine could feel buckets of sweat coming along as Kuroko just peeked from behind the other and looked at them. "You know I can explain!" Aomine tried to calm the captain before he tried anything on him. However, Akashi completely ignored him and fixed his gaze upon the boy behind him.

"Ah, well if it isn't Tetsuya. I haven't seen you for a long while." Akashi said to the pale boy.

"Domo, Akashi-kun." Kuroko greeted.

"Who is that, Aomine?" Midorima questioned, not knowing of the boy since this was their first meeting.

"I'm Kuroko Tetsuya, pleased to meet you Midorima-kun." He introduced. Midorima seemed to be a little surprised that the other had known his name and asked why he did. "Of course, everyone in the basketball club should know of the 5 first years that beat out the sempai regulars after a few weeks upon entering school." Kuroko said as though it were a common fact.

"Ah, sou." Midorima just hid behind the glare of his glasses and turned his gaze away.

"Hmmm... I saw you before." Murasakibara leaned down towards Kuroko and ruffled his hair in the process.

"Please stop that, Murasakibara-kun." The pale boy swatted the hand away.

"But you're so easy to pick on." The tall boy then retreated his hand and stood tall again, still trying to remember when he'd seen him last.

"Weren't you the one the practically ran him over on the first day of school?" Aomine refreshed his memory. He remembered that Kuroko had mentioned it before and couldn't help but feel annoyed that that had happened before.

"Right. You're the chibi that I tripped over, ja, it's Kuro-chin." He finally realized. "Did you leave for three months then just came back?" He questioned.

"No, I was here the whole time." The boy said with his deadpan face. _"I haven't heard that phrase in a long time."_ Aomine sweatdropped and turned back towards Akashi, who seemed to be pretty excited right now. He had no idea as to why Akashi would be this way but he really didn't want to find out what he had in mind either.

"So this is where you've been hiding, Aomine." Midorima said to the boy. "When we need to find you, you are always off somewhere else but who would have known that you were just next door. You better have not been slacking in your training or else we'll all suffer the consequences of your actions."

"I don't slack off here! I practice just as hard as in regular practice!" Aomine argued. "Isn't that right, Tetsu?" Kuroko decided to stay out of the conversation. "Tetsu!" Aomine just sighed disappointed that he didn't get backed up on his response.

"Well, I'm sure that your skill level hasn't dropped but if you practice with a person of lesser talent, then you wouldn't have improved at all." Midorima said. "What string are you from anyways?" He directed the question to Kuroko.

"Third string." The three boys then paused in shock for a moment.

"Was there a third string?" Midorima questioned Akashi.

"As far as I'm concerned, however, I left all the groupings and string placements to Kaibara and the other sempai." Akashi said. "So I'm only involved in training regiments and training the first stringers. Kaibara switches with Shiba and the others from time to time to deal with the large number of members."

"Ja, Kuro-chin is in third string?"

"Hai."

"And yet Aomine still hangs around him like they've been best friends since childhood." Midorima stated, finding the fact rather peculiar. Akashi just stood in silence as he observed the small boy. He knew that he'd seen something in Kuroko from the first time that he'd met him but it was the first time that he couldn't pinpoint ones abilities straight away. With Kuroko, he had to cross examine the information for a bit before he drew his conclusion.

"Daiki..." Aomine's attention was brought back to his captain. "would you three mind if you left me alone with Tetsuya for a while?" The three knew that it was their cue to leave. When Akashi asked a question like that, he always expected them to fulfill his request, even if they were just asked or if they minded. Aomine didn't feel comfortable with leaving Kuroko alone with his scary captain but there wasn't anything that he could do either.

So before he left, he told Kuroko to call him later though he didn't mention that the reason for it was to make sure that he came home alive. Kuroko just nodded as the other court players left alongside his friend and soon was left alone with the captain. "So Tetsuya, let's get straight to the point shall we? I wanna try something."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The following day, Aomine had come to school earlier than anyone would have expected him to; even earlier than people had ever thought possible. Even he didn't like coming this early to school but today, he had a special reason. Last night, he had expected Kuroko to at least call him or send him some sort of message to tell him that he was alright but he had received none and that worried him. So he dragged himself to school hoping to run into the invisible boy.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, Aomine felt like giving up and going into the building until he was surprised from behind. "It's a surprise to see you here to so early, Aomine-kun."

"Ahh, Tetsu, it's even more of a surprise at how you can scare me so easily." Aomine tried to regulate his breathing. "Oh yeah, you're alright!" Aomine remembered why he had come so early.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for not contacting you last night. It seems that once I had arrived home, I fell asleep in the hallway, according to my mother."

"So you passed out when you got inside?"

"Hai, but I'm alright as you can see." The blue haired boy reassured.

"Yeah, that's good to know. So are you staying after practice today again?" Aomine asked him.

"Yes but Akashi requested that I train with him again." Kuroko explained.

"Train? He's training you?" Aomine was surprised by this fact. Akashi only did these sort of things only if it had some sort of benefit towards him.

"Sou desu." The other answered. The taller boy shuddered when he remembered his experiences with Akashi's training with the others before their big game with the former regulars.

"Are you sure you really want to do this, Tetsu?" Aomine voiced his concern.

"Akashi-kun offered and since he was nice enough to do so, I couldn't say no." Aomine didn't like the sound of that response but sighed to himself and decided to accept it.

"Well, just be careful and pace yourself, especially if you're really serious about this Tetsu. I don't want you getting hurt because of Akashi's training." Aomine was genuinely concerned because he felt like he barely survived through the process himself. "How long did he say he was going to train you? Did he tell you at all?"

"He said before next week, we'll be done with our sessions and on the following Monday, I'll have to go to the first gym instead of the third."

"Wha, already? He plans to train you like this for the next 3 days?" On this day, it was already Wednesday, so Aomine speculated that they'll be training till Friday.

"Are you sure you'll be okay until then?"

"Hai, but hopefully I will be able to meet Akashi-kun's expectations within the short period of time." Aomine caught the small hint of concern in the other's voice but didn't mention it. Instead he changed the subject and started to talk about what had happened to him after he'd left the other day.

During the next few days, Aomine then started to notice that Kuroko was getting more and more less talkative with him and Momoi. They even found it harder to notice him even when he was just sitting in the desk right next to them. Also, at the times when they did notice him, they found him sound asleep in the middle of class; however, the teacher didn't notice him at all. The tanned boy had to admit that he was a little jealous of Kuroko for this invisible ability that he has since he was able to nod off in class whenever he wanted but when he did, he was always scolded immediately by the teacher. It was even worse when he had first started practicing with Akashi at the beginning of the year.

Kuroko was also very secretive when asked about what he was training. Momoi guessed that Akashi had put him up to it so due to this speculation, they stopped pestering him about it. But that didn't mean that their curiosity was satisfied at all. They were practically dying to know what the two boys were doing; even the rest of the team had grown an interest as to who the boy, that Akashi had personally started training, was. But just like everyone else, they'd have to wait for Monday, the date that Akashi had invited him to come over towards their gym.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Finally the day that everyone had been looking forward to, had come. It was the day that they would meet this mystery boy that their captain had taken an interest in. Aomine knew said boy already but he also knew that he had little to no skill for the sport.

"I hope Kuroko-kun will be alright." Momoi said to her childhood friend.

"Well, he seemed alright during last week, didn't he?" Aomine said to her. She just nodded but that didn't ease her worries.

"Ne," Haizaki then walked over towards the pair and put his arms around their shoulders. "so you guys know who this Kuroko kid is?" He grinned tauntingly as he looked at the pair.

"Ah, he's in our homeroom class." Momoi said tsundere like but in actuality, really didn't like the boy.

"So is he any good? What sorta traits does he have? Is he strong?" Murasakibara crashed the conversation.

"Well, he's alright, but he's not as strong as people make him out to be." Aomine said thinking about it for a moment.

"I still can't believe that Akashi let the other strings' come and watch today's practice. All because of this fuss about some boy no one knows." Midorima said irritably.

"Just hold your lucky item and shut your mouth." Aomine snapped. Midorima just narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. The boys could then hear the chatter coming from the balconies as the one hundred members all started to talk amongst themselves about Kuroko. Just then Akashi had entered the gym and was immediately followed by a boy just a bit shorter than himself with sky blue hair. The pair looked like they contrasted with each other but if their looks weren't enough, then their personalities were enough to suffice.

"That's the kid that Akashi had an interest in?" Haizaki looked disappointed.

"Maa~ Kuro-chin, glad to see you survived. Though I thought you would've died by now." Murasakibara announced. The green haired boy just kept his comments to himself.

"So are you really ready for this?" Aomine asked the small boy.

"Hai." Kuroko just said, seemingly confident.

"Alright everyone gather, practice is starting!" Akashi exclaimed, his voice echoing in the gym. All the first stringers and run towards their captain and stood in front of him. "So today, all first stringers who aren't on the bench sit out. You will all observe with the second stringers." There were murmurs in the group of boys but no one complained. They all then made their way towards the bleachers and sat alongside their club mates.

"Now the rest of you..." Akashi started but then saw a hand in the air. "Makoto, you have a question?" Akashi eyed the previous basketball regular. (note: Makoto is Hibiki's first name and is the OC that guarded Haizaki in their match in earlier chapters. Previous regular.) Everyone was surprised by his action but didn't utter a word about it since the second year had a tendency to snap at anyone no matter who they were.

"So what's the deal with this person you brought in?" Hibiki questioned, not understanding the situation really.

"Well, he's Kuroko Tetsuya and he will be joining us in the first string gym from now on." Akashi explained to them.

"Well then he should at least have the decency to show up on time." His tone was slightly annoyed and he could hear a round of murmurs coming from around the gym. The four current basketball regulars just looked at the people oddly as they couldn't understand what the big deal was.

"What are they talking about? Did they not see him walk in with Akashi?" Midorima questioned, seeing as the situation was very strange.

"Are you guys blind? It's no wonder why you lost your spot as the team regulars after all." Haizaki taunted as Hibiki sneered at the first year. However, he didn't say anything mostly due to the fact that the boys around him were holding him back and tried to prevent him and Haizaki from starting another fight. Momoi just rolled her eyes at the pair. There really was nothing stopping them from getting at each other's necks but if she thought about it, they were boys after all.

"Maa, I can't find Kuro-chin anywhere either." Murasakibara sighed as he looked over everyone's heads trying to spy the blue haired boy.

"That's impossible, we all saw him." Midorima said and looked around to find the boy as well but was surprised that he was nowhere in sight. "W-where has he gone to?" Midorima was stunned for a moment.

"The kid's like a ghost." Haizaki said nonchalantly but was also curious about the situation.

"A-ano..." They all heard a small voice and looked towards the front where Akashi was standing. "I'm right here." Kuroko said as he lifted his right hand in the air halfway so as to draw attention to himself.

"Whaa-" The team was taken aback and jumped a bit when they suddenly found the missing boy.

"H-how did..."

"W-when did..." Aomine just smirked at their surprised expressions. Since he had been hanging out with Kuroko for a while, he was used to the ghostly presence.

"I was here the entire time. I just walked in with Akashi-kun not so long ago." He explained as the entire team flashbacked to that moment.

"_I don't remember him at all."_ They all came to the same thought and just stared, jaw dropped.

"Tetsuya is a special case." Akashi said, putting an arm around the boy. "So as I've said before, he'll be joining us from now on." The redhead repeated.

"But for what reason are the other stringers watching today instead of practicing on their own?" Another ex-regular, third year Shiba, questioned this time.

"There's always a reason behind my decisions, however it is not my obligation to explain my reasons to you. Nonetheless, you'll all soon come to understand my decisions eventually." That was all Akashi had to say on the subject and immediately dropped it. Shiba wasn't really satisfied with the response but he dropped it as well.

"Hmm... this is interesting. I can't wait to break him in." Haizaki grinned as he eyed the boy. Aomine just glared at him but didn't comment.

"So what are we going to do now, Akashi?" Aomine asked, trying to push forward from this little meeting.

"I'm glad you asked Daiki, I was thinking that we should have a little test so that you all may see Tetsuya's value while he gets acquainted to playing with the first stringers as well." Akashi said as he looked at the bench warmers. "You three." Akashi pointed at three players who all straightened up as he looked at them.

"You will be playing on a team with Daiki and Tetsuya. Meanwhile, you five will play against them." Akashi pointed towards Yoshida, Hibiki and three others. Hibiki didn't have any complaints and Yoshida was as easygoing as ever but the other three just looked a bit scared to be facing Aomine in a match. The other other three were just as scared since they didn't want to be a hindrance towards him either, despite being older than the first year pair. Plus, they weren't even sure if Kuroko could keep up with them since he looked like he had little to no stamina.

"Now, everyone else, on the sides and observe carefully. I want to hear your opinions afterwards." Akashi said as though he already knew what they were going to say later on.

"Ne Tetsu, are you sure you're alright with all of this?" Aomine asked him.

"Hai, Aomine-kun. Just please keep your eye on the ball and be aware at all times. I know you space out easily." Kuroko said at Aomine's expense.

"What was that? You trying to pick a fight?" Aomine felt a vein pop in his forehead.

"No, I'm merely making sure that you are prepared for what will happen in this game." Kuroko looked at him, not changing his expression one little bit.

"If you have time to worry about me, then worry more about yourself. We're up against first stringers after all." Aomine huffed and stormed off to get the jump ball. Kuroko watched him walk off then turned towards his other teammates to ask something of them.

Aomine focused on the ball as he waited for it to reach its maximum peak before he could reach after it. Surprisingly, he was doing the jump ball against Hibiki. It wasn't that he was much shorter than himself, it's just that there was a taller person that had more of an advantage. Though it didn't bother him one bit and just focused his mind on getting the ball.

The coach was acting as referee for the game. Akashi had mentioned it to him before about bringing in a new player for first string but the coach wanted to see the boy's skills for himself before making his decision. He knew that Akashi would bring him in regardless if he really wanted to the kid in the team, but it felt nice to have his opinion heard since he didn't expect Akashi to listen to him that much. Snapping out of his thoughts, he threw the ball in the air and watched as the boys jumped for it. Luckily, Aomine was the one that had won the battle and immediately tossed it towards a teammate.

The other caught it and then looked around after remembering what the new boy had asked of him and the other two. _'Would you three please pass me the ball whenever you are able to?'_ He asked the favor as they all exchanged glances with each other. They all had agreed without really knowing what to expect but with the look of the boy physically, it was almost impossible to comply with the request. So they just passed it amongst each other until they got it to Aomine who slammed it in the basket.

"Yatta! Sasuga Aomine!" The boys exclaimed as they greeted the boy.

"Let's go. Defense!" Aomine exclaimed as they ran back towards their basket.

"I won't let you take the first quarter so easily." Hibiki glared and tossed the ball towards Shiba who then threw it to another member quickly and made a three pointer. This had continued for a while as Aomine kept on getting most of the points and the other team kept on matching him. However, slowly, Aomine's team seemed to be lagging behind slightly due to the double team placed on Aomine.

"Che, we have to pick up the pace a little." Aomine said to the other members as the quarter ended.

"Alright, 2 minute break!" Akashi announced. "And then we'll start on the last quarter of the game." He added surprising both teams.

"Wait, this game'll be two quarters only?" Hibiki asked.

"That's what I said." Akashi answered. Aomine then sighed as he tried to think of a strategy. He knew the guys were good players but they weren't up to speed with him or the two previous regular members. He also wasn't very good at dropping his level to account for the others and let them flow with the game either.

"We got this." He heard Hibiki say as he caught the boy's smirk planted on his face.

"Aomine seems to be a bit troubled." Haizaki grinned as well, enjoying the sight of his teammate squirm a little. He knew of the ace's competitiveness and, speaking for the team, they each didn't like losing, especially with the high possibility that they could win.

"He seems to be playing by himself, despite his interaction and plays with the others. His mind seems to be fixated in trying to catch up." Midorima stated.

"That didn't make sense, Mido-chin." Murasakibara said with little interest.

"Well it seems that things will get interesting pretty soon." Akashi said to the others. They all then sat in silence and watched once again as the teams went back towards the court.

"Alright, let's just try our best." Aomine said to the other members.

"Aomine-kun." Kuroko then stood in front of the tanned boy who was about to pass the ball.

"Ahhhh, Tetsu." Aomine froze, shocked for a moment.

"I forgot he was on the team." One of the boys confessed to his friends.

"W-was he always playing?"

"Akashi put him in the team, so he should have been there."

"Then why didn't he do anything?"

"I forgot the squirt was there." Hibiki sweatdropped as he noticed the sky haired boy.

"But, I never noticed either." Shiba was wide eyed, surprising Hibiki. He'd never seen his sempai like that unless he was under complete shock. "I always notice every player but I forgot he was even playing in the game."

"That guy's not normal." A player said behind the pair to the other boys

"That's freaky isn't it?"

"I guess that's the reason why we were able to double team Aomine huh?"

"Someone call the Supernatural Club!"

"T-Tetsu, s-saa, let's get started." Aomine recovered and watched as Kuroko walked over towards his teammates. They then remembered the request made at the beginning of the game. After exchanging glances one more time, they went into game mode. Aomine saw that everyone was in position and passed the ball.

The boy had caught it then somehow spotted a speck of blue in the crowd of boys. He dribbled then passed it towards him but somehow, the ball had ended up in the hands of his friend under the net. "S-shoot!" He exclaimed towards the stunned boy who then took the shot.

"H-how..." The one who made the shot questioned.

"Forget it, just get back." Aomine said, although, he couldn't get that pass out of his mind either. The ball was clearly headed in a different direction but had somehow ended up under the net. "What was that?"

This time, a boy from the other team had the ball and they were all in a man to man guard. He paused to see who he could pass to as another was in front of him and trying to block his view. After a few moments, he then noticed that he wasn't even dribbling the ball anymore, turned and found that the ball was somehow stolen. "W-when did..."

Everyone in the stands couldn't comprehend what exactly was happening as the ball was being moved around without them knowing how. "Akashi, what's going on?" a voice called out to him and found the ex-captain, Kaibara Tomoki, beside him.

"Whatever do you mean, Tomoki?" Akashi's eyes were challenging.

"I mean, what's the deal with this game all of a sudden."

"Just watch carefully and you may be able to see what's really happening." The other first years listened in the other conversation and then looked at the game, interested in the secret behind the travelling ball. The ball was handled by Aomine who looked around to seek out someone whom he can pass to. He then spotted Kuroko who seemed to be free and tossed it towards him. He then broke through expecting a return pass but saw that the ball was already in the basket.

"T-Tetsu?" Aomine then realized vaguely what was happening. A few snap shots then raced through his mind as he caught a glimpse of the boy's pass.

"I see." Midorima stated, eyeing the sky haired boy. "He's making tap passes."

"Nani, Mido-chin?" The tall giant asked.

"It's him isn't it, Akashi." The green haired boy looked towards his captain.

"So he's somehow diverting attention away from himself and is making people focus on the ball." Haizaki added to the explanation.

"That's correct. Tetsuya always had little presence so instead of fighting this oddity; I made it into something he could use on the court." Akashi was proud of his discovery. "A fine weapon isn't it?"

"I don't understand but Kuro-chin is really good."

Slowly, everyone else started to understand the passes being made and were amazed that they could get through the defense so swiftly and flawlessly. "I can't believe you learned all this in less than a week." Aomine said to Kuroko though he didn't really get a response back but he didn't mind. He knew that Kuroko didn't like being the center of attention much so he figured that this would be a little too overwhelming for him.

The game ended with Aomine's team's win but nobody was upset about it. However, something that almost everyone noticed was that the teamwork that they had with each other had increased when Kuroko started to play. It seemed like with him playing, they all meshed well with each other and played better, almost as if he were trying to push out the best in them.

"I suppose it'll be more interesting from here on out." Midorima crossed his arms and looked at the newly admitted member of the first string.

"Ne, Aka-chin, is Kuro-chin going to be a starter?"

"I trained him to make sure that he'd make it to the middle school championships. It would be a good place for the debut of our new player. It will make them remember us indefinitely and will set the stage for when we conquer the winter tournament." Akashi said ominously.

**Again, I'm sorry I was awol for weeks now  
****But I said that I wouldn't abandon stories anymore  
****So you don't have to worry about that  
****If I say that the story's going to end,  
****Then that's when it ends  
****But the thing is that I have midterms coming up already  
****So it's tough to keep up with the writing  
****Demo Ganbarimasu~ ^^  
****Please excuse any bad mistakes that are made  
****Owari desu~**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake Corner-

Omake #1  
Everyone turned to see a redhead had entered the gym and everyone hushed as he entered. The first year regulars all turned towards their captain and looked at him. "Ne Akashi, are we starting soon or what? And where's that new brat that I've been hearing about." They all heard Hibiki question the boy. They all sweatdropped as they heard him demand the answers. If there was one person on the team who wasn't afraid of death, it would have been the former small forward player.

Hibiki then looked down at the redhead, wide eyed and remained silent for a while. The first year group had looked over their sempai's shoulder and looked down at their captain to find that it wasn't the person who they thought it was.

"Ano, could you p-please t-tell me w-where I can find t-the A-Art Room?" the redhead, asked. As it turns out, it wasn't Akashi after all and was some other redheaded first year who was just looking for directions. It seemed that he got nervous that it had gotten so quiet once he entered the gym and then got questioned right after.

Hibiki just scrunched his face in annoyance. "Get out of here, we're trying to do a scene!" He exclaimed as the boy just darted out of the gym in terror. The poor boy was the outlet for the second year's anger.

"Hibi-chin just broke the fourth wall." Murasakibara stated.

"You stupid, purple giant, you just did the same." Haizaki said.

"Stop talking about it, you're making it worse!" Aomine exclaimed.

"Cut the scene-" Momoi said before getting cut off...

(yes, I know it's random -.-' please forgive me hehehe)

. . . . . . .

Omake #2  
"Are they all blind?!" Haizaki said skeptically as he had noticed the boy when Akashi had entered the gym. "I guess it isn't much of a mystery as to how they lost their spots as regulars."

Hibiki looked like he was going to say something after the insult but was cut off by another voice. "Actually," Kuroko said, cutting off the argument that was about to start. "they're right. I didn't come through the gym doors with Akashi-kun." He said.

"But Tetsu, we all saw you behind Akashi when you guys entered the gym." Aomine said.

"Iya, I came late. Akashi-kun had come by himself and I snuck in from a side door to avoid meeting Akashi-kun outside. I didn't want him to scold me for being late on the first day I practice in the first string gym."

"Show up on time! And why were you late, you were at school this entire time!" Aomine exclaimed and looked towards the boy to find that he'd disappeared. "Don't disappear when people are talking to you!"

**Hope you enjoyed that  
****My apology gift  
****But it's not much really  
****I apologize again  
****Sumimasen deshita!**


	10. Chapter 10: They'll Never Forget

**I'm a bad person, I'm a bad person, I'm...  
****Ahhh, chiwassu minna-san!  
****Gomenasai!  
****  
I know I've been gone a really long time ****  
But I just finished midterms for the term and finally found a chance to relax  
****Though I have two essays due plus another midterm  
****Plus writers block on top of it all….. sigh  
****but let's not worry about that  
****I'll make it up to you guys somehow  
****So please forgive me ^^**

**Well, I'm sure you guys wanna read the chapter  
****But yay, double digits  
****And do the middle schools have a winter tournament?  
****Oh well, they do now hahahahaha  
****Saa, we start!**

**Disclaimer: No ownage of Kurokocchi or the GoM or the story franchise… I fanfic which means to borrow ideas, I own nothing!**

* * *

Chapter 10: They'll Never Forget

Practice had just started in the first string gym. Akashi had started everyone up on warm ups and drills before breaking into groups. It had been at least half a week since Kuroko's admission to the first string and everyone was amazed by the feat that the invisible boy had displayed. Of course half the credit had to be bestowed upon Akashi for discovering the once useless boy's talent. Since that day, everyone had expected much from the first year but when the first practice happened the next day, they all nearly dropped towards the ground when they found out about the boy's low stamina and lack of ability other than the super passes.

They tried to be nice to the kid since he had put up with Akashi's intense training for a week before his initiation but this was getting ridiculous. After intense sessions, many of the players had to yell at the boy to wake up after each set, since he passed out by the wall nearly every single time. "How did this kid not break in the past week?" one of the members had got to talking.

"He seems so much more fragile than I had thought initially." Said the one he was talking to. Momoi just sat and watched as Kuroko struggled to keep up. She knew that he still had a long way to go but she was proud that the boy had finally made caught up to them. She then began taking notes on how she could help improve the boy's training so that he'd get stronger faster; though if she thought about it, if she pushed too hard, she might hurt him instead of help him. So she put the thoughts on hold at the moment.

"Hey no slacking!" Momoi had heard Akashi call out as he watched the players run around the gym tirelessly. "Kuroko, slow down a bit." Everyone nearly froze with shock as they heard the words come from the redhead's mouth but they fought on in fear that they'd get punished for abruptly stopping the run. Never in their past few months of training with Akashi had they ever heard the captain say something like slow down or take a break. Usually, those kinds of things would be said by Momoi who'd warned Akashi ahead of time before announcing it.

"Why is Akashi so soft on Kuroko?"

"Is he so weak that he needs Akashi's sympathy?" These sorts of comments had flown throughout the gym and Akashi glared at them enough to make them shut up. Aomine just ignored them and ran up to the pale boy.

"Hey Tetsu, how you holding up?" Aomine asked, dropping his pace to the other's.

"Daijoubu desu." Kuroko said quickly, trying to conserve his air intake.

"That's good... so you ready for the tournament this week?" Aomine seemed a little too happy about the situation. Kuroko didn't really comment on this since he could understand what the tanned boy was feeling. He too was feeling happy about being able to participate in the Spring Championships despite being newly admitted but he was also happy about being able to play with Aomine as well.

"No." Kuroko replied to the question despite his happiness in participating.

"W-Wha?" Aomine almost tripped as he ran. "Why wouldn't you be? You're doing fine in practices." Aomine tried to settle his thoughts.

"Practice and a game are two very different things, Aomine-kun." Kuroko corrected.

"W-well yeah but..." Aomine however, didn't get to finish his sentence as Akashi yelled at him to not cheat and to pick up the pace. Aomine sent Kuroko and apologetic smile before running ahead.

After the running session, Akashi had the team do conditioning by drilling sidesteps, crabwalks etc... across the gym floor and that was how the practice had gone until the end. Many of the members had to yell at Kuroko to not pass out in the middle of the floor right after finishing the exercises but they just chuckled to themselves and help the poor boy to the change rooms while someone else ran to get him water.

"It's nice to see that the team has warmed up to him, ne Akashi-kun?" Momoi said to the captain.

"This is for the best, Satsuki, since Tetsuya doesn't seem to function well when under the pressure of those who don't seem to like him much or those he is unfamiliar with. By getting him used to unfamiliar people, it will help him get used to the presence of an audience faster when we're at the game. And it'll be exceptionally helpful for when we play away games where we'd clearly be the hated team." Momoi just snapped her head towards the redhead after hearing that.

"_What exactly did Akashi-kun mean when he said that Kuroko-kun doesn't function properly in the presence of unfamiliar people? He was playing fine when they had that practice match last week." _Momoi thought, confused by this.

"Of course, despite this weakness, he still continues to play his hardest and put up a front. But I could see clearly that he was struggling under the pressure, even with the presence of Daiki on the court next to him." Akashi told the pink haired girl, as though he had just read her thoughts.

"So then..." Momoi looked at the red haired captain.

"That's correct, he is still capable of much more." Akashi told her before walking off towards the change rooms.

"Hmm... maybe by figuring out how to overcome this weakness will I be able to predict his growth rate." She pondered to herself before heading out of the gym.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After all of those days of practicing, the promised day had finally come, the day of the Middle School Basketball Championships. It was a game between Teiko-chuu and the winners of the past five tournaments, Chiben-chuu. It was highly anticipated that these two teams would reach the finals, given their performance throughout the league's games but the winner was undefined; although the favorite to win was said to be Chiben. But even against these odds, Akashi knew that they would win because he was always right and therefore, in his logic, would always win.

"I want you all to stay focused and no matter what the other team says to you, pay no heed to it." Akashi instructed sternly. They all responded affirmatively as they walked into their locker room and left all their bags inside.

"Now you all," Mori-kantoku had gotten their attention as they all looked towards him. "you're opponents today aren't pushover just like the other teams that you've faced up till now. And I also don't want you to forget that we have a new player starting today as well." He made reference to Kuroko, whom everyone seemed to have just realized was with them as well, startling them.

"You don't have to worry about Tetsu, Kantoku. He'll be fine, ne Tetsu?" Aomine wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders and grinned cheekily. Kuroko didn't say anything.

"Yes, well, regardless, I want you to be careful Kuroko. With your little presence, I highly doubt that this game will be without complications." Mori put a hand to his forehead. He had witnessed their practices and saw that the boy was both a trump card but at the same time was putting himself at risk to injuries. "And did you all get the briefing from Momoi about the other team?" The group of boys nodded.

"It will all go as planned, Kantoku." Akashi reassured. "And if anything happens on the court, I will most definitely not stay silent about it."

"You all just listen to your captain's instructions and maybe we'll pull through this." The Kantoku retained his usual stoic persona and hid his emotions behind his dark shades but actually, Mori really didn't know how to deal with the first year regulars. Ever since Akashi started calling the shots, he started to doubt his own authority in the club as club advisor and coach. Though it did leave him with fewer things to deal with and allowed him to focus more on the advising and less on the coaching. This was a student made club after all.

"You should have more faith in us Kantoku." Haizaki smirked. "And besides, I think you're underestimating us too much. Yet you still call yourself a coach." Mori had learned how to ignore Haizaki's insults and probes which soon developed into some sort of immunity.

"There's no need to worry for today is a lucky day; especially when today's lucky item is a symbol of luck." Midorima said as he pulled out a scary looking elf like doll. Everyone flinched when they caught view of the face as it grinned maniacally at them.

"Mido-chin has a really scary doll." Murasakibara chewed on a piece of candy.

"I told you to stop it with the freaky lucky items! Couldn't you have picked a better looking gnome than that freakish reject?!" Aomine exclaimed, obviously uncomfortable with having the thing on the bench, staring at them as they played.

"It's not good to taunt people about things they're interested in, Aomine-kun." Kuroko barged into the conversation.

"Can you blame me? Especially with the way it looks?!" He pointed at its face again.

"It isn't a gnome, it's an elf. There's a difference between them, though your primitive brain may not be able to comprehend their differences." Midorima challenged.

"It don't matter what it is, your taste in dolls is almost as appalling as the way you play basketball." Haizaki commented, picking up the doll by its leg, hanging it upside down as he examined it.

"I thought I told you to keep away from my lucky items. The last time you handled one, it broke and I had to go through the day, dealing with horrible luck." Everyone was still wondering how that had happened. It didn't seem likely that just by breaking a lucky item, your whole day would be turned upside down but oddly enough, that was unfortunately the case for Midorima. It was a supernatural event that even scientists wouldn't be able to prove.

"Great they're all turning on each other again." The other team members sighed. Mori could slowly feel his stoic expression breaking little by little.

"Maa, if it's Akashi-kun and the others, then they'll get through fine." Kaibara reassured the benchwarmers. "And you shouldn't stress yourself so much, coach." The ex-captain tried to lift up their spirits at least a little.

"Well, I understand where he's coming from though." One of the second year benchwarmers spoke up. "This is the first time in years that our school's gotten to the Championships and there's a lot of pressure."

"Yeah and Chiben-chuu is supposed to be really strong this year." Another member said.

"Even our sempai couldn't beat them last year in their game."

"Shut it, you're talking is bringing down my mood." Haizaki snapped at them.

"You're mood aside," Aomine said in annoyance. "it isn't a good vibe for the rest of us either."

"That's true, this isn't going to get us very far if we keep talking about pressure." Momoi said from the corner after she had just recently entered the room. "If you're all ready, then we should head to the court. The staff said that we're allowed to practice a bit and warm up now." She informed. With that said, they all agreed and followed their coach and captain towards the court.

Upon coming through the doors, they were suddenly greeted with the overwhelming cheers from the crowd and the bright lights that beamed down on the court. Kuroko seemed to shy away a bit as he was new to the feeling of being the center of attention. Aomine and Momoi just urged him to continue on, silently supporting him. Kuroko smiled faintly as he was slightly pushed forward by the pair but this time, he hid behind Aomine as they moved as a group towards the benches.

"No need to fret Tetsuya. Our opponents won't be as big of a deal as people make them out to be." Akashi said with a seemingly warm smile planted on his face. The others just felt a shiver run down their backs as they got the hint of their captain not liking their talk of how strong their opponents were.

"Yeah no biggie for you..." Haizaki came up behind the boy and put an arm around his shoulders. "you're invisible to everyone. Just don't get in my way or anything, especially if you know what's good for ya." The blond haired boy said sinisterly.

"Mou, Haizaki-kun. Don't say things like that." Momoi pouted at the boy.

"Haha, don't sweat it Momo-chan. Just playin around." Haizaki said as he walked off towards the court to practice a bit, and by practice, he meant mess around.

"That boy..." Momoi really didn't like the cocky boy's attitude. "Don't mind him Kuroko-kun. Just play your best today."

"Hai, ganbarimasu." Kuroko said with his same deadpanned expression.

"Well then, let's go and warm up, Tetsu." Aomine said and pulled the boy along with him. Momoi just smiled warmly at the pair before the coach had caught her attention. He seemed to be deep in thought as he sat and stared at the court players, though she wasn't sure which side he was looking on with his sunglasses on his face. She moved to sit beside him with her clipboard held in against her chest.

"Is something wrong, Kantoku?" She asked him, pulling the man out of his thoughts. It took him a while before he realized that Momoi was talking to him but then he tilted his head towards her direction and gazed at her behind his sunglasses.

"I'm just being wary of the other team players." He said truthfully.

"Any particular reason? They look like regular middle schoolers to me." She said taking a glance towards the opposing team. "And I looked at the records of the starters but it seems that they've all only been on the court for one or two games each throughout the entire season. On top of that, they haven't played with each other as a team at all. It was always the five other boys, whom also alternate their four positions, which I thought were the regulars, while they gave the fifth position to another member." She explained her data. "By alternating the fifth member, they'd be training future players of their team right?"

"You're partly right in that sense Momoi, but you've never seen them play at the championships before. There's a reason why they've won every single year for the past 5 years since their old coach was suddenly replaced by a new one." Mori kantoku said ominously. "With the five members that everyone, including you, assumes to be the regulars..."

'_Assumes?'_ Momoi thought as she continued to listen.

"are actually the ones that will carry the team the next year."

"So that means that... the regular players from before were the ones that were in training?!" She exclaimed in shock.

"Indeed, and that also means that the fifth alternating players were the actual regulars. They each aid the new members when they are in a pinch and prepare them for when their turn comes to train the new members." He explained.

"But then, they wouldn't get time to play themselves. How does that work when they don't practice and play as a team?" Momoi was confused as to why someone would use this technique.

"That's not necessarily true. By not playing in public, they don't reveal their techniques to opposing teams. And just because they don't play in public doesn't mean they don't train as a team in private."

"But they're all okay with that? Just playing in secret while the members in training play the games? They're also just taking the credit by playing in the championships. If Aomine-kun played hard during the season and made it to the championships, but finds out that he wouldn't be playing... he wouldn't take that at all and neither would any of the others. If they worked hard to get to this position, then they deserve to play at the finals."

"I don't know what mind set they have, but they somehow always pull out a victory in the end because of the advantage they have. That's also the system of their team, so we have no right to criticize it."

"That still doesn't make it right..." Momoi said, not wanting to continue the topic any longer. She just hoped that Akashi and the others would win and show the other team that they should play right and let those, who deserve to play, play.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The game was about to commence and the two teams were asked to arrive on the court. The boys on the side were all warmed up well and they all stepped onto the court. The starters for the first part of the game were Akashi, Murasakibara, Aomine, Haizaki and Midorima. The referee then signalled for the two teams to bow towards each other.

"So Teiko decided to let first years take over hahaha." A voice taunted making them look over towards the other side of the court while they were in mid bow.

"I guess it's a bigger step up for them since they managed to get all the way here." Another member of Chiben-chuu said.

"Now that's rude." Haizaki smirked.

"Like you're one to talk about being rude." Midorima narrowed his eyes.

"Now, now, we should settle down. However, I warn you that you shouldn't make light of our sempai or of us." Akashi looked towards the other team with a seemingly friendly expression. This just made his own team cringe as they knew this wasn't a good sign. This demeanor that Akashi was showing was the complete opposite of what they were used to.

"Whatever, squirt, just do whatever you guys like. We'll crush you either way." Akashi snapped after that phrase but of course, he didn't show it. His killing intent just overflowed like a dam burst. His own team just backed away slowly so as to not feel the wrath of Akashi.

"N-Ne... A-Akashi, w-we have t-to be c-calm right?" Aomine tried to calm his captain but the fact that he looked as calm as possible was what was freaking them out. Even Haizaki was frozen with fear at the sight of the small red head. He, especially, knew that it wasn't a joke when you pissed off Akashi and he never wanted to be on the other side of that wrath ever again.

"I am calm, Daiki but what I want now is for us to completely destroy them." Akashi's eyes were burning with malice as he walked past the trembling group of boys. "Get to your starting positions, we're going to give them an experience they'll never forget." The boys didn't say a word and immediately moved.

"Oi, Tetsuya!" Akashi called out after the others were gone from his presence.

"Hai, Akashi-kun?" Kuroko looked at the boy, wondering why he suddenly called out to him. When the red head turned towards the bench, everyone was suddenly hit with the wave of murderous aura but Kuroko was seemingly unfazed.

"Stay warmed up, I'm putting you in sooner than planned." He warned. Kuroko wanted to object and say that putting him in sooner would mean he wouldn't make it to the end of the game but he couldn't oppose Akashi this time. Instead, he just agreed and didn't say a word. Momoi had the same feeling as Kuroko because this wasn't going according to their original plan but with the way Akashi was right now, even she couldn't do anything about it.

"Akashi-kun's complex is really scary." Kuroko murmured to the pink haired girl.

"Sou da, ne, Kuroko-kun. But don't ever mention that to his face. Even if it's you, he would stay silent about it." Momoi warned.

"Wakatta." He answered simply as the game was about to start.

**Aannnd we didn't get to the game haha  
****Sorry about that -.-'  
****And sorry that this chapter was pretty short  
****And that it took me two weeks longer than I had originally planned  
****But now that it's up…  
****Well… I'll try and update again before the month ends  
****But I'll most likely be more about in December!  
****That's my month off hahahaha  
****Ahh and to explain the Chiben-chuu basketball system if you didn't really understand:**

**So the club structure:**

First years:  
All are allowed to join and become part of the club as a trial. They only train and support at games.

Second years:  
When reaching second year, all are eliminated and ejected from the club except for the 5 selected to be the next regulars. They train by taking turns playing the four regular positions throughout the season.

Third years:  
They help train the second years and they take turns playing the last regular position. When the championships come around, they all play as regulars while the second years are on the bench.

The mindset that they are presented with is that if you were picked to stay, then you are privileged, talented and have earned the right to stay, while everyone else is a failure.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Kind of sad, yes  
****But I have a plan for them  
****Hopefully this makes sense  
****and that I'm not just spouting nonsense**

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

-Omake-  
_Flashback to Training:_

Akashi had walked into the gym where the other four first years were waiting for him. He had handpicked them to oppose the second and third year regulars but he had soon learned that each of them had an annoying quality to them. Murasakibara had a big sweet tooth, Aomine was a basketball nut and not very bright in anything else, Haizaki had a foul mouth and Midorima was smart, but lacked knowledge of basketball and was obsessed with something called Oha-sa.

"We'll start your individual training for now." Akashi announced as they were all about to move when Haizaki suddenly paused them all.

"I have a quick objection." Haizaki said lazily.

Akashi felt a vein throb as he looked at the blond boy. "No one has ever made an objection against me." He said in a low, intimidating voice but Haizaki didn't look fazed by it.

"Now, now, I know that your 'I'll rip you to shreds if you defy me' personality is just a fraud. So what I want to know is why a shrimp like you is acting as our captain." Haizaki grinned at him and to make it worse, he put his hands on his knees and looked at Akashi in the eyes as if he were a lost child. The others wanted to question this as well but didn't dare say anything when Akashi got a certain look in his eyes.

Haizaki stood up straight, confused about what was going on and then he unconsciously took a step back while Akashi didn't budge an inch. His eyes were still focused solely on Haizaki as he wary continued to step backwards.

***Next section blurred due to uncalled for violence***

When Akashi had finally settled down, Haizaki was on the floor twitching inhuman like. The other three members simply collapsed on the ground, they're legs giving out of fear. They were all so shocked that they couldn't move until Akashi looked at them.

"No slacking, get to work!" He exclaimed and in no time, the others were on their feet. "Atsushi!" Akashi called out, getting the attention of the purple haired giant.

"Hai, Aka-chin?" Murasakibara said in his normal, bored tone but was still fearful on the inside.

"Carry Shogo to the nurse's office and tell her that there was an accident."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**End...  
****Haha and that's the end of that  
****Well that's it  
****Owari desu~**

Uploaded: 16/11/12


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